Raise your hand if you've ever been tired.
Yep, that's everybody middle school age on up that's not a professional aviator. If I asked a roomful of pilots, maybe a few reluctant hands would casually (and most definitely with hesitation) go up. Few more may give into honesty just for the sake of moving the discussion along. But, for the most part the macho bravado of the pilot personality would win silencing the vast majority into ambiguity. The way of modern life for most of us is that fatigue is a daily and accepted occurrence and for some, a way of life.
No airplane passenger in their right mind wants tired pilots at the controls as they rocket through the air in an aluminum tube. No airplane passenger in their right mind wants inebriated pilots up in the business end either, but many studies have concluded that being awake for extended periods of is like being legally drunk. While this is not news for pilots, passengers usually find this information shocking. Though the facts and symptoms of fatigue are widely accepted by the pilots that won't openly admit to being tired, industry, for reasons including financial considerations, have vetoed multiple times to adopt updated fatigue countermeasures legislation. Scheduled flying operations, by nature, allow for regular down time for pilots to recoup.What about non-scheduled flying operations like charter and business aviation? Charter flying is regulated by the FAA much like airline flying, but business aviation flying runs the gamut of flying equipment ranging from single engine piston aircraft serving an area like the size of the Chicago metropolitan area covering nearly 12,000 square miles to large ultra long range twin engine jet aircraft flying global missions non-stop. The affects of fatigue are the same, the countermeasures are the same, but the opportunity to fight fatigue is reduced.
While strict fatigue mitigation strategies are abundant, the ability to institute them formally into non-scheduled business aviation operations can seem an impossible task. For a example, a flight crew was tasked to airline to the Caribbean to pick up their passengers and fly the aircraft back to base all in the same duty day. The crew's airline flight left Chicago's O'Hare airport at 0600 to connect through Charlotte and arrive in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) at 1430. The private flight left TCI at 1530 for a 2 hour and 40 minute flight to New Orleans to clear customs, spent 45 minutes on the ground, departed for Chicago arriving after 2 hour and 20 minutes of flying time. By the time the crew disembarked the passengers, performed post flight duties the time on the clock was around 2130. Considering the both crew members woke up at 0330 for the hour drive to the base airport to preposition their cars and catch a cab to O'Hare, it was already a long day for them when the airliner touched down in TCI.
Together the crew discussed their concerns with management and after the conversation decided that the mission could be completed as scheduled. Also, during that conversation they received clarification that future trips would be scheduled differently with the airline portion of the trip occurring the day before to allow for proper and adequate rest. To mitigate the fatigue risks the crew began three days before the trip changing their sleep patterns to go to bed an hour earlier each evening, they refrained from alcohol and caffeine consumption, rescheduled any evening workouts for earlier in the day and agreed on a strategy of micro-sleeps during the airline flights the day of the trip using ear plugs and sleep masks.
What's important to keep in mind is a professional pilot is someone that does their due diligence in all aspects of their craft with integrity. The flight crew's planning resulted in them being alert, rested and ready for the long day ahead. They completed the mission successfully-without instance of any abnormal fatigue-to the complements of satisfied and thankful passengers.
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