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B777 first officer laments the captain's decision to use a nonstandard break schedule on a 12 hour flight resulting in insufficient rest for the two relief pilots.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1196114 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201408 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Not Flying Relief Pilot |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
On this flight; the captain wanted an irregular break schedule. His break schedule lacks a valid justification. One relief co-pilot was willing to accommodate. We had half of the crew doing a standard break (flying co-pilot and me: 6 hours each) while the captain and other relief pilot did a 4-6-2 break. I was awakened by the crew call from the lower bunk trying to wake my flying partner at the end of the 4 hour break. I was unable to fall back to sleep. The other relief pilot slept very little on the two short breaks. I learned that this was the third trip in a row with two days off in between. Relief pilot fell asleep in the seat during the 6 hours on. The 4-6-2 break schedule is very unsafe for the operation. The relief pilot is not allowed a decent time to rest. When I tried politely to speak to the captain about my concerns; he stated; 'it's fine if you relief pilots are hanging from your shoulder straps because; you are just relief pilots.' this captain is unwilling to consider the fatigue or consequences of his irregular break scheme. His ego is getting in the way of a safe operation. There is a cost however...half of your crew is asleep in the seat.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B777 First Officer laments the Captain's decision to use a nonstandard break schedule on a 12 hour flight resulting in insufficient rest for the two relief pilots.
Narrative: On this flight; the Captain wanted an irregular break schedule. His break schedule lacks a valid justification. One relief co-pilot was willing to accommodate. We had half of the crew doing a standard break (flying co-pilot and me: 6 hours each) while the Captain and other Relief Pilot did a 4-6-2 break. I was awakened by the crew call from the lower bunk trying to wake my flying partner at the end of the 4 hour break. I was unable to fall back to sleep. The other Relief Pilot slept very little on the two short breaks. I learned that this was the third trip in a row with two days off in between. Relief Pilot fell asleep in the seat during the 6 hours on. The 4-6-2 break schedule is very unsafe for the operation. The Relief Pilot is not allowed a decent time to rest. When I tried politely to speak to the Captain about my concerns; he stated; 'It's fine if you relief pilots are hanging from your shoulder straps because; you are just relief pilots.' This Captain is unwilling to consider the fatigue or consequences of his irregular break scheme. His ego is getting in the way of a safe operation. There is a cost however...half of your crew is asleep in the seat.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.