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Air carrier captain reported he was extremely fatigued on his flight because of the mix of early morning and late night duty periods.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1750458 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201910 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types |
Narrative:
Regarding pairing (number): if this isn't a textbook example of a 'circadian swap'; then I don't understand the concept (which is possible). I have never felt as sleep-deprived to the point of significant performance deficit as I did on the last leg of this trip - an ETOPS flight arriving in the early; fog-prone; hours of the morning. Thankfully; the weather was good and the flight uneventful. My sleep strategy was to stay active till time to sleep a solid minimum eight hours; getting up early enough to be physically active again till time to go back to bed for a minimum of four more hours. On this trip that four-hour nap was nearly impossible. This strikes me as a setup for an incident or accident. Is there a scientifically proven strategy for preparing one's brain and body for a graveyard shift after two early morning duty periods? -For shifting one's circadian clock that dramatically over a 35-hour rest period? If so I'd sure like to know what it is.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier Captain reported he was extremely fatigued on his flight because of the mix of early morning and late night duty periods.
Narrative: Regarding Pairing (number): if this isn't a textbook example of a 'circadian swap'; then I don't understand the concept (which is possible). I have never felt as sleep-deprived to the point of significant performance deficit as I did on the last leg of this trip - an ETOPS flight arriving in the early; fog-prone; hours of the morning. Thankfully; the weather was good and the flight uneventful. My sleep strategy was to stay active till time to sleep a solid minimum eight hours; getting up early enough to be physically active again till time to go back to bed for a minimum of four more hours. On this trip that four-hour nap was nearly impossible. This strikes me as a setup for an incident or accident. Is there a scientifically proven strategy for preparing one's brain and body for a graveyard shift after two early morning duty periods? -for shifting one's circadian clock that dramatically over a 35-hour rest period? If so I'd sure like to know what it is.
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.