Narrative:

My crew was briefed for a 0430 show for a 0600 go for [3-leg] flight. In preparation for this early show and relatively long day; I went to bed at approximately 1915 and slept reasonably well awakening at 0330 for the 0430 show. Upon meeting my first officer in the lobby; he stated that he was tired and wasn't sure if he could do the flight. We went to the airport discussing his condition and ability to perhaps complete the [first] leg at which time he could consider calling in fatigued. During my pre-flight; he stated that he was truly exhausted having gotten only a couple of hours of sleep the night before for a number of reasons including a noisy hotel on a weekend night. He called in fatigued. We were kept on duty until 0900 at which time we received a brief to report at 2345 that night to ferry [to position aircraft] for a 0500 flight arriving at about 0730. I explained to the assistant chief pilot on duty at about 0700 that I was good to go for the day having gotten decent sleep and perhaps they could find me someone else to fly with in time to complete flight(s) on what was scheduled to be a busy. It was also a start day for the X; so I thought there might be other pilots available. This opportunity was not answered by scheduling. In order for me to get at least 8 hours of sleep prior to the 2345 show and anticipating flying until about 0730; I would have had to gotten to sleep no later than 1445 at the hotel and slept through until 2245 giving myself an hour to get ready and report. This is simply not realistic under virtually any circumstance let alone having gotten up less than 12 hours before. Sleeping on demand is not human nature. As a result; I was forced to call in fatigued not being in any condition to safely fly an aircraft during the middle of the night when I had awoken around the time the day before that I was now supposed to fly. This; to me; is a clear example of punitive; unsafe scheduling and one that could have been avoided by either; 1) finding me someone to fly with during the day during that time I was available (0430 to 1830) or; 2) by scheduling us not according to the 14 hours off parameter but by having us report at a time more in line with what we were doing the next morning. Expecting a crew to report at 0430 and then again at 2345 the same day is simply unsafe.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Fractional Captain reported an assignment that he felt was unrealistically fatiguing; so he refused the trip.

Narrative: My crew was briefed for a 0430 show for a 0600 go for [3-leg] flight. In preparation for this early show and relatively long day; I went to bed at approximately 1915 and slept reasonably well awakening at 0330 for the 0430 show. Upon meeting my First Officer in the lobby; he stated that he was tired and wasn't sure if he could do the flight. We went to the airport discussing his condition and ability to perhaps complete the [first] leg at which time he could consider calling in fatigued. During my pre-flight; he stated that he was truly exhausted having gotten only a couple of hours of sleep the night before for a number of reasons including a noisy hotel on a weekend night. He called in fatigued. We were kept on duty until 0900 at which time we received a brief to report at 2345 that night to ferry [to position aircraft] for a 0500 flight arriving at about 0730. I explained to the Assistant Chief Pilot on duty at about 0700 that I was good to go for the day having gotten decent sleep and perhaps they could find me someone else to fly with in time to complete flight(s) on what was scheduled to be a busy. It was also a start day for the X; so I thought there might be other pilots available. This opportunity was not answered by Scheduling. In order for me to get at least 8 hours of sleep prior to the 2345 show and anticipating flying until about 0730; I would have had to gotten to sleep no later than 1445 at the hotel and slept through until 2245 giving myself an hour to get ready and report. This is simply not realistic under virtually any circumstance let alone having gotten up less than 12 hours before. Sleeping on demand is not human nature. As a result; I was forced to call in fatigued not being in any condition to safely fly an aircraft during the middle of the night when I had awoken around the time the day before that I was now supposed to fly. This; to me; is a clear example of punitive; unsafe scheduling and one that could have been avoided by either; 1) Finding me someone to fly with during the day during that time I was available (0430 to 1830) or; 2) by Scheduling us not according to the 14 hours off parameter but by having us report at a time more in line with what we were doing the next morning. Expecting a crew to report at 0430 and then again at 2345 the same day is simply unsafe.

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.