Narrative:

I was given a late night ready reserve. I came prepared (fully rested) to complete the ready reserve and possible duty period of 14 hours (13 hours max scheduled/14 hours max). I was not given any assignment and I was released to 10 hours of rest followed by another on call duty period in the morning (exactly 10 hours later). Around 15 minutes into my morning reserve I was assigned a round trip flight in the afternoon. Having reported for a ready reserve period the night before that could have potentially resulted in an assignment ending 30 minutes before my on call window began the next day; I was unable to get enough sleep during my rest period to safely complete any flying assignment in that duty period based on that circadian rhythm. Unfortunately; pilots on this ready reserve period are put at risk. I could have been assigned a continuous duty pairing or a ferry/maintenance/relocation flight; etc. Ending in the late morning hours the second day. In this case; I would have been adequately rested and fit for duty. (I have done these overnight flights from this ready reserve in the past). I could have been given a 'normal' paring with a flight to an overnight; rest; and flying for up to 14.5 (13.5 maximum scheduled) hours the next day. I would not have been properly rested for such an assignment. Presented with this dilemma in the past I have contacted crew scheduling for more guidance as to which scenario to prepare. I was told by a crew scheduler that he did not have a crystal ball and that 'he guessed' I should be ready for both scenarios. I do not understand how a pilot can simultaneously prepare to fly all night and if not used; fly all the next day. This scenario gives the pilot a 50% chance of not being adequately rested for an assignment while on duty even though he showed up for work properly rested. This could easily be remedied by keeping pilots in one circadian rhythm and not flip flopping schedules based on whether or not a pilot is given an assignment or not. On the night I sat ready reserve there were 3 first officers (to my knowledge) sitting ready reserve. It would be easy to designate which pilots should come ready for regular overnight trips and which pilots should come ready for 14 hours of straight duty. If not used; the latter pilots then should be given enough rest as is given to pilots actually assigned continuous duty overnights to make sure their circadian rhythm is maintained. In this way; there would be a guarantee that a pilot reporting for duty would not be assigned a trip that is contradictory to the rest he prepared for. In addition; there would be a guarantee that he would not be assigned to future assignments that conflict with the previous assignments circadian rhythm. Currently; our air carrier's modus operandi in regard to late night ready reserves is in direct opposition to a safe work practice.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier First Officer described his ready reserve duty period followed by a rest period and then a duty assignment flight schedule which did not allow adequate rest and resulted in calling in fatigued.

Narrative: I was given a late night ready reserve. I came prepared (fully rested) to complete the ready reserve and possible duty period of 14 hours (13 hours max scheduled/14 hours max). I was not given any assignment and I was released to 10 hours of rest followed by another on call duty period in the morning (exactly 10 hours later). Around 15 minutes into my morning reserve I was assigned a round trip flight in the afternoon. Having reported for a ready reserve period the night before that could have potentially resulted in an assignment ending 30 minutes before my on call window began the next day; I was unable to get enough sleep during my rest period to safely complete any flying assignment in that duty period based on that circadian rhythm. Unfortunately; pilots on this ready reserve period are put at risk. I could have been assigned a continuous duty pairing or a ferry/maintenance/relocation flight; etc. ending in the late morning hours the second day. In this case; I would have been adequately rested and fit for duty. (I have done these overnight flights from this ready reserve in the past). I could have been given a 'normal' paring with a flight to an overnight; rest; and flying for up to 14.5 (13.5 maximum scheduled) hours the next day. I would not have been properly rested for such an assignment. Presented with this dilemma in the past I have contacted Crew Scheduling for more guidance as to which scenario to prepare. I was told by a Crew Scheduler that he did not have a crystal ball and that 'he guessed' I should be ready for both scenarios. I do not understand how a pilot can simultaneously prepare to fly all night and if not used; fly all the next day. This scenario gives the pilot a 50% chance of not being adequately rested for an assignment while on duty even though he showed up for work properly rested. This could easily be remedied by keeping pilots in one circadian rhythm and not flip flopping schedules based on whether or not a pilot is given an assignment or not. On the night I sat ready reserve there were 3 First Officers (to my knowledge) sitting ready reserve. It would be easy to designate which pilots should come ready for regular overnight trips and which pilots should come ready for 14 hours of straight duty. If not used; the latter pilots then should be given enough rest as is given to pilots actually assigned continuous duty overnights to make sure their circadian rhythm is maintained. In this way; there would be a guarantee that a pilot reporting for duty would not be assigned a trip that is contradictory to the rest he prepared for. In addition; there would be a guarantee that he would not be assigned to future assignments that conflict with the previous assignments circadian rhythm. Currently; our Air Carrier's modus operandi in regard to late night ready reserves is in direct opposition to a safe work practice.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.