Narrative:

Fatigue report: I flew all-nighter coast to coast; sunrise arrival. Laid head down on pillow at approximately forty-five minutes after arrival at hotel. Woke up seven hours later; but was disturbed around noontime by noise in hallway - believe it was maid service. Total sleep 6 hrs; 15 min. Worked out in gym for an hour; departed for airport at dusk.next leg was scheduled coast to coast; before midnight arrival. Freezing rain; snow; and eventual rain slowed departure for several reasons. (Deice/flow/departure control). Arrived in the middle of the night before sunrise; by the time we got to downtown hotel I laid my head down on pillow shortly before sunrise. We had essentially flown two all-night flights in a row. I slept 6hrs uninterrupted. Noise in hallway around midmorning cut sleep off; then tossed for two hours until noon. Finally gave up; and got up. Layover cut short 4 hours. Despite having over 20 hours at hotel; the deficit of sleep lost the night before; and the fact we had flown another all-night flight; my sleep was inadequate; and I was unable to take a nap that afternoon going into the next 'scheduled' all-night segment. It is ridiculous that a pairing could be built with two all-night segments in it to begin with! *I have repeatedly stated in fatigue 'concern' reports that a minimum of 24 hours off (30 hours if west to east all-nighter) should be required. Pilots are not getting proper rest. This was the third all-night segment in one trip; albeit due to irregular operations caused by weather; but that (irregular-ops) should be expected on any pairing; ergo two all-night segments should be prohibited in the first place. During flight; both myself and first officer decided we would not be able to continue this trip as scheduled; sent message to dispatch we would be fatigued upon arrival.arrived hotel at sunrise; and laid head down at fifty minutes later. Woke up 3 hours later. We were scheduled to fly last leg coast to coast all at night. The FAA needs to intervene in this process of line building or an incident that could have been prevented is going to bite us when least expected. All-night flying is for military operations; and those carriers that transport boxes; not people. On every segment passengers thank us as if we are performing some unnatural feat flying them all-night. Even they can't figure out how we are accomplishing it - maybe we are pushing it as pilots tend to do. As you know; in the military; crews simply ask for an 'eyes closure'; break following prescribe methods to deal with all-night flying that NASA has illustrated as effective measures against circadian rhythm. FAR117 has most likely caused more problems than it solved and a full review of the regulation needs to be accomplished with a panel of pilots from airlines across the country who actually do the flying.again I will add my suggestions on fixing what may become a serious incident for pilots afraid to call fatigued or simply are not seeing the signs of degraded performance.**suggestion to FAA on fatigue concerns; which I continue to write in about regardless of whether I call in fatigued or not; concerns based on pairings company X continues to build.1. Minimum 24 hours off after any all-night flight. (30hrs if from west coast to east coast all-nighter)2. All night flights should be avoided on the first flight of a pairing. (It is unnatural to go from a daytime schedule to an all-night flying environment without a gradual transition)3. If an all-night flight is flown in the middle of a pairing; a minimum of 24 hours off from duty is mandated. (Established from where a pilot started. West to east 30hrs. East to west 24hrs.)4. If the FAA is going to allow airlines to schedule all night flying; without a requirement to have 24hrs off from duty after the all night flight; then no more than one leg may be flown to ensure that pilots are not being pushed to an unsafe level of performance simply because the corporation is willing to allow an 'acceptable risk'; formula for operating commercial aircraft.5. Two all-night segments in one pairing should be prohibited!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 crew reported calling in fatigued before a third coast to coast all-night flight on the same trip with inadequate hotel sleep due to interruptions.

Narrative: Fatigue report: I flew all-nighter coast to coast; sunrise arrival. Laid head down on pillow at approximately forty-five minutes after arrival at hotel. Woke up seven hours later; but was disturbed around noontime by noise in hallway - believe it was maid service. Total sleep 6 hrs; 15 min. Worked out in gym for an hour; departed for airport at dusk.Next leg was scheduled coast to coast; before midnight arrival. Freezing rain; snow; and eventual rain slowed departure for several reasons. (Deice/flow/departure control). Arrived in the middle of the night before sunrise; by the time we got to downtown hotel I laid my head down on pillow shortly before sunrise. We had essentially flown two all-night flights in a row. I slept 6hrs uninterrupted. Noise in hallway around midmorning cut sleep off; then tossed for two hours until noon. Finally gave up; and got up. Layover cut short 4 hours. Despite having over 20 hours at hotel; the deficit of sleep lost the night before; and the fact we had flown another all-night flight; my sleep was inadequate; and I was unable to take a nap that afternoon going into the next 'scheduled' all-night segment. It is ridiculous that a pairing could be built with TWO ALL-NIGHT segments in it to begin with! *I have repeatedly stated in fatigue 'concern' reports that a minimum of 24 hours off (30 hours if west to east all-nighter) should be required. Pilots are not getting proper rest. This was the third all-night segment in one trip; albeit due to irregular operations caused by weather; but that (irregular-ops) should be expected on any pairing; ergo two all-night segments should be PROHIBITED in the first place. During flight; both myself and FO decided we would not be able to continue this trip as scheduled; sent message TO Dispatch we would be fatigued upon arrival.Arrived hotel at sunrise; and laid head down at fifty minutes later. Woke up 3 hours later. We were scheduled to fly last leg coast to coast all at night. The FAA needs to intervene in this process of line building or an incident that could have been prevented is going to bite us when least expected. All-night flying is for military operations; and those carriers that transport BOXES; not people. On every segment passengers thank us as if we are performing some unnatural feat flying them all-night. Even they can't figure out how we are accomplishing it - maybe we are pushing it as pilots tend to do. As you know; in the military; crews simply ask for an 'eyes closure'; break following prescribe methods to deal with all-night flying that NASA has illustrated as effective measures against circadian rhythm. FAR117 has most likely caused more problems than it solved and a full review of the regulation needs to be accomplished with a panel of pilots from airlines across the country WHO ACTUALLY DO THE FLYING.Again I will add my suggestions on fixing what may become a serious incident for pilots afraid to call fatigued or simply are not seeing the signs of degraded performance.**Suggestion to FAA on fatigue concerns; which I continue to write in about regardless of whether I call in fatigued or not; concerns based on pairings Company X continues to build.1. Minimum 24 hours off after any all-night flight. (30hrs if from west coast to east coast all-nighter)2. All night flights should be avoided on the first flight of a pairing. (It is unnatural to go from a daytime schedule to an all-night flying environment without a gradual transition)3. If an all-night flight is flown in the middle of a pairing; a minimum of 24 hours off from duty is mandated. (Established from where a pilot started. West to east 30hrs. East to west 24hrs.)4. If the FAA is going to allow airlines to schedule all night flying; without a requirement to have 24hrs off from duty after the all night flight; then no more than one leg may be flown to ensure that pilots are not being pushed to an unsafe level of performance simply because the corporation is willing to allow an 'acceptable risk'; formula for operating commercial aircraft.5. TWO ALL-NIGHT segments in one pairing should be PROHIBITED!

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.