Narrative:

I am reporting on a situation I got caught in which I feel flight safety was possibly compromised. I realize the need for all-nighter flights and that we must have pilots to do them. In this case a serious look should be given to the entire sequence because that is where the problem develops. I was notified I would have a trip pairing starting with a red eye when crew scheduling called me the day before. I was prepared well by staying up a bit late the night before; and I tried to sleep in the next morning and did so until 0700; which is actually late for me. I got some exercise; went about my day and tried to take a nap in the late afternoon/early evening and was marginally successful. The flight to ZZZ1 went well and even though I was up all night; I felt fairly well and we got in a bit early. The problem then develops. We get into ZZZ1 well after the sun has risen and the body is actually trying to wake up. If the sequence allowed for the crew to immediately go to a layover hotel; things would be much better. However; the cockpit crew must now get in a van and ride over an hour to downtown ZZZ2 for the layover. This is the killer. In the van since I was dead tired; I did drift in and out of dozing to the point of falling asleep for maybe a 30 minute nap. Finally arriving at the layover hotel it is now almost 0900. The nap has now set me up for disaster. I wake up; go into the hotel and check in. I hustle to the room but by now the body is really saying; 'hey it is daytime not sleep time.' you just had your nap; it is just too late to catch the go to bed sleep rhythm. So I lay down and over the next several hours drift in and out of sleep -- tap tap tap housekeeping -- oh that is across the hall. Laughing and joking going down the hall. After all; it is now 11:30 in the middle of the day. Roar of planes out the window as the layover hotel is right under the flight path for takeoff at ZZZ2. Get up; drink some water and try to lay back down. Get basically an afternoon nap and finally give up and get up. It is late afternoon so I go for a short walk in the bright sunshine and back to the room for shower and get ready for pick up. Do I feel ok? I guess I do. Have I slept well? Absolutely not. Am I ok to fly? I guess I am. So off to the airport to deadhead on a two hour flight to ZZZ. This deadhead is part of the sequence and the second step in this horrible situation. Studies show that a lack of restful sleep is like drinking alcohol. It clouds your judgment and certainly messes with decision making; coordination; alertness and delicate motor skills. So now we arrive in ZZZ and it is well into night as we prepare for our departure. I am tired; but I am busy trying to get something to eat and getting the flight plan; etc. Taxi out; takeoff and climbout all normal. But I am now feeling really tired. I am at cruise and I am drinking caffeinated drinks trying to stay alert. I feel that sorta blank stare; care less about anything attitude. I am missing radio calls and simple button pushes with the CDU; etc; seem to take some real thought. I guess I missed the FL180 checklist; and I didn't turn off the exterior lights till about FL240 on climbout. Ok; I try to sit up straight and try to stay focused. Darn tough to keep eyes open. I talk to the first officer -- you feel ok? He does; and we press on; I'm tired and I realize at that moment I most likely shouldn't be sitting there. But normal descent and landing finally now off to a hotel to get some circadian rhythm sleep. As I look back with 20-20 hindsight; was I fit to fly that leg? Don't know for sure and most likely not fit to fly. In an emergency would the adrenalin have kicked in? The problem is as you start down the path you are fatigued. You only become more fatigued and really don't realize it. You can't make good decisions about being fatigued when you are already fatigued; if that makes any sense? Plus all pilots know we could be standing at attention in front of the chief pilot to maybe get fired for calling in fatigued mid trip. The issue is truly the way this sequence is made up; as it is set up for a disaster. The all night flight needs to be scheduled to get in an hour or so earlier before all the bright sun in the face. Then the crew needs to go to a layover hotel immediately to catch the sleep circadian before it is too late. The long hour plus van ride and late arrival at the hotel is just too late for a chance at descent sleep. Then that evening the two hour deadhead sitting squeezed in coach prior to a very late night working flight is just stupid and more of a set up. Surely better sequences could be built? In retrospect; I survived but everything I know as a former military aviation safety officer and a captain at this airline tells me this is a disaster looking for a place to happen. This winter as weather only makes things tougher and the ever present possibility of system failures are going to set up a fatigued crew. I would strongly recommend to look at this sequence and change it. I have already made up my mind that when I do this sequence again; or one as bad with the late arrivals and van rides things will be different. If I don't sleep 4-6 hours soundly; I will be calling in fatigued mid sequence. I try very hard to be a team player but the folks making up these sequences never have to live them. They are not healthy and absolutely unsafe.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain describes a fatiguing trip paring that was not designed with human sleep cycles in mind.

Narrative: I am reporting on a situation I got caught in which I feel flight safety was possibly compromised. I realize the need for all-nighter flights and that we must have pilots to do them. In this case a serious look should be given to the entire sequence because that is where the problem develops. I was notified I would have a trip pairing starting with a red eye when crew scheduling called me the day before. I was prepared well by staying up a bit late the night before; and I tried to sleep in the next morning and did so until 0700; which is actually late for me. I got some exercise; went about my day and tried to take a nap in the late afternoon/early evening and was marginally successful. The flight to ZZZ1 went well and even though I was up all night; I felt fairly well and we got in a bit early. The problem then develops. We get into ZZZ1 well after the sun has risen and the body is actually trying to wake up. If the sequence allowed for the crew to IMMEDIATELY go to a layover hotel; things would be much better. However; the cockpit crew must now get in a van and ride over an hour to downtown ZZZ2 for the layover. This is the killer. In the van since I was dead tired; I did drift in and out of dozing to the point of falling asleep for maybe a 30 minute nap. Finally arriving at the layover hotel it is now almost 0900. The nap has now set me up for disaster. I wake up; go into the hotel and check in. I hustle to the room but by now the body is really saying; 'hey it is daytime not sleep time.' You just had your nap; it is just too late to catch the go to bed sleep rhythm. So I lay down and over the next several hours drift in and out of sleep -- tap tap tap housekeeping -- oh that is across the hall. Laughing and joking going down the hall. After all; it is now 11:30 in the middle of the day. Roar of planes out the window as the layover hotel is right under the flight path for takeoff at ZZZ2. Get up; drink some water and try to lay back down. Get basically an afternoon nap and finally give up and get up. It is late afternoon so I go for a short walk in the bright sunshine and back to the room for shower and get ready for pick up. Do I feel ok? I guess I do. Have I slept well? Absolutely not. Am I ok to fly? I guess I am. So off to the airport to deadhead on a two hour flight to ZZZ. This deadhead is part of the sequence and the second step in this horrible situation. Studies show that a lack of restful sleep is like drinking alcohol. It clouds your judgment and certainly messes with decision making; coordination; alertness and delicate motor skills. So now we arrive in ZZZ and it is well into night as we prepare for our departure. I am tired; but I am busy trying to get something to eat and getting the flight plan; etc. Taxi out; takeoff and climbout all normal. But I am now feeling really tired. I am at cruise and I am drinking caffeinated drinks trying to stay alert. I feel that sorta blank stare; care less about anything attitude. I am missing radio calls and simple button pushes with the CDU; etc; seem to take some real thought. I guess I missed the FL180 checklist; and I didn't turn off the exterior lights till about FL240 on climbout. OK; I try to sit up straight and try to stay focused. Darn tough to keep eyes open. I talk to the First Officer -- you feel ok? He does; and we press on; I'm tired and I realize at that moment I most likely shouldn't be sitting there. But normal descent and landing finally now off to a hotel to get some circadian rhythm sleep. As I look back with 20-20 hindsight; was I fit to fly that leg? Don't know for sure and most likely not fit to fly. In an emergency would the adrenalin have kicked in? The problem is as you start down the path you are fatigued. You only become more fatigued and really don't realize it. You can't make good decisions about being fatigued when you are already fatigued; if that makes any sense? Plus all pilots know we could be standing at attention in front of the Chief Pilot to maybe get fired for calling in fatigued mid trip. The issue is truly the way this sequence is made up; as it is set up for a disaster. The all night flight needs to be scheduled to get in an hour or so earlier before all the bright sun in the face. Then the crew needs to go to a layover hotel immediately to catch the sleep circadian before it is too late. The long hour plus van ride and late arrival at the hotel is just too late for a chance at descent sleep. Then that evening the two hour deadhead sitting squeezed in coach prior to a very late night working flight is just stupid and more of a set up. Surely better sequences could be built? In retrospect; I survived but everything I know as a former military aviation safety officer and a Captain at this airline tells me this is a disaster looking for a place to happen. This winter as weather only makes things tougher and the ever present possibility of system failures are going to set up a fatigued crew. I would strongly recommend to look at this sequence and change it. I have already made up my mind that when I do this sequence again; or one as bad with the late arrivals and van rides things will be different. If I don't sleep 4-6 hours soundly; I will be calling in fatigued mid sequence. I try very hard to be a team player but the folks making up these sequences never have to live them. They are not healthy and absolutely unsafe.

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.