Narrative:

I was on an am reserve schedule from xa:00 to xo:00. I received a call around xa:30 from crew scheduling telling me I was 'released into rest' and to report to the airport at xp:00 for a three day trip. I was assigned a trip that went something: xp:00 report fly ZZZ-ZZZ1 xp:45-xr:15; sit for 2:20 then fly to ZZZ getting in around xa:55. I was then to overnight for 24 hours and report the next day at xn:40. I tried to sleep during the day after I was 'released into rest' but was unable since I had gotten a good nights sleep the night before. I reported for my trip and flew ZZZ2-ZZZ3. I started feeling the effects of fatigue about halfway through the flight. During the arrival into ZZZ3 I was feeling very tired and not vigilant. We were set up for an approach to xxl and were switched by approach control to xxr at the last minute. We were scrambling to set up the RNAV approach for xxr. Neither of us had ever landed on xxr and the first officer is very new to our air carrier and the 737. The approach did not go well. We were on a visual and had been given a heading to join the approach inside the FAF. We were getting erroneous information about the glide path since we had not captured the approach. We were low and fast on the approach at some point but were able to get the aircraft stabilized; and landed with no further problems. I feel we were both feeling the effects of fatigue in this situation. After we arrived at the gate I called crew scheduling and told them I was fatigued and would not be flying to ZZZ1 that night. The first officer did not want to call in fatigued since she is still on probation and didn't want to face any consequences from the scheduling department or company. This schedule is a very unsafe schedule although it is perfectly legal per the fars. The crew scheduling department continues to assign trips that have no respect for sleep cycles or circadian rhythm. This story is a good example of why pilots need to be alert at all times during their flights. Things always seem to pop up at the last minute late at night when you're tired. How can the scheduling department expect you to adjust your sleep cycle to be ready for duty at xa:00 only to switched to a pm; fly all night schedule; and then reversed again for a xb:40 am report the next day? This kind of scheduling practice is very dangerous and leads to flight crews flying while fatigued.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reports extreme fatigue after being switched from early reserve availability after a full nights sleep and assigned a trip 15 hours later. Mistakes due to fatigue during the first approach of the trip lead the reporter to call in fatigued.

Narrative: I was on an AM reserve schedule from XA:00 to XO:00. I received a call around XA:30 from crew scheduling telling me I was 'released into rest' and to report to the airport at XP:00 for a three day trip. I was assigned a trip that went something: XP:00 report fly ZZZ-ZZZ1 XP:45-XR:15; sit for 2:20 then fly to ZZZ getting in around XA:55. I was then to overnight for 24 hours and report the next day at XN:40. I tried to sleep during the day after I was 'released into rest' but was unable since I had gotten a good nights sleep the night before. I reported for my trip and flew ZZZ2-ZZZ3. I started feeling the effects of fatigue about halfway through the flight. During the arrival into ZZZ3 I was feeling very tired and not vigilant. We were set up for an approach to XXL and were switched by approach control to XXR at the last minute. We were scrambling to set up the RNAV approach for XXR. Neither of us had ever landed on XXR and the First Officer is very new to our air carrier and the 737. The approach did not go well. We were on a visual and had been given a heading to join the approach inside the FAF. We were getting erroneous information about the glide path since we had not captured the approach. We were low and fast on the approach at some point but were able to get the aircraft stabilized; and landed with no further problems. I feel we were both feeling the effects of fatigue in this situation. After we arrived at the gate I called crew scheduling and told them I was fatigued and would not be flying to ZZZ1 that night. The First Officer did not want to call in fatigued since she is still on probation and didn't want to face any consequences from the scheduling department or company. This schedule is a very unsafe schedule although it is perfectly legal per the FARs. The crew scheduling department continues to assign trips that have no respect for sleep cycles or circadian rhythm. This story is a good example of why pilots need to be alert at all times during their flights. Things always seem to pop up at the last minute late at night when you're tired. How can the Scheduling department expect you to adjust your sleep cycle to be ready for duty at XA:00 only to switched to a PM; fly all night schedule; and then reversed again for a XB:40 AM report the next day? This kind of scheduling practice is very dangerous and leads to flight crews flying while fatigued.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.