Narrative:

The purpose of this narrative is to provide a formal account of factors that contributed to my flying in the most demanding conditions while fatigued. Day four of my trip began with a 4:xx am report time. The first leg I was pilot flying and began with extremely windy conditions; moderate turbulence; and an ILS approach to landing in a strong crosswind and +-15 KT windshear. The third leg I was pilot flying and takeoff was into deteriorating weather with strong winds and followed a boeing 737 that had just missed the approach due to strong winds. The landing was from another ILS approach. I was very tired during this third leg due to the 5:xx am; 5:xx am; 4:xx am; and 4:xx am report times on days one through four respectively combined with long duty days and an average of 5 legs per day. Leg three terminated at an out station.the proper decision for me to make would have been to call in fatigued. The decision I made was to continue flying since I was pilot not flying on leg four and I felt I could do this well. I made several small errors this leg. For example; after reading the correct bug settings on the descent checklist I somehow jumped to the before start checklist and said 'steering'. This was the final error that proved to me I was not fit to fly because I could not correctly perform simple tasks. After this leg I decided to call in sick; however in my tired state of mind I made another bad decision. I decided to delay boarding five minutes while I had a cup of coffee and then re-evaluate how I felt. I decided to fly leg five since I had a long break afterward and could take a nap before leg six. Leg five I was pilot flying. We blocked out shortly before 11:xx am local time; and the current weather observation at our destination included winds of 33 gusting to 40 KTS; with peak wind at 45 KTS. The taf for our ETA was winds at 34 gusting to 45 KTS. When we arrived we flew an instrument approach because of low visibility due to dust. On a four mile final I got the runway in sight; and surface winds reported by the tower were 35 KTS gusting to 50. This was leg five. I would finally have a break to eat; drink; nap; coffee and fly one more leg home as pilot not flying. I should never have been flying fatigued in these conditions and I was not fit to fly.the important question is why was I; then; flying? I did not call in sick at the outstation since this is detrimental to operations.chronic fatigue? My fatigue has become chronic. Each week I thoroughly wear myself out flying typical schedules and I have two to three nights at home to recover. After two plus years of these schedules I am showing up to work tired and worn out.aging pilot group? The pilot group; including me; is aging so much that we no longer have the luxury of over scheduling twenty something year old pilots who can continually function safely on little rest.circadian swaps? I have often been mixing am and pm schedules. Today I reported for duty at 4:xx am; and later this week I will be working pm reserve and likely flying until midnight.too tired to make a prudent decision? Calling in sick or fatigued is a difficult decision to make because of pressure from the company; pressure to get home and fulfill family obligations; pressure from the crew not to inconvenience them; and the pressure from myself to get passengers where they need to go. [The practice of] scheduling pilots to fly schedules that often necessitate a sick or fatigued call when there is so much pressure to continue flying is a defacto policy of causing pilots to willfully fly while fatigued.financial difficulty? Most fatigue calls cause a lowering of minimum guarantee. I've got a family; and mortgage; and with our second child we will qualify for $268/month food stamps.job security? Obviously multiple fatigue and/or sick calls are not good for anyone's job. We do not have enough sick time to call in sick every time that would beprudent to avoid fatigue. Calling in fatigued often would result in not being able to pay the mortgage.what are the fixes? Not to rely on a pilot's judgment as to when he/she pilot is fatigued! The way trips are currently built obviously is cause enough for fatigue. We need objective standards of adequate rest. Much like a decision height; we need trips that keep duty days under 10 hours; and schedules that do not circadian swap anymore than one time every three months. Three months is the time it takes to adjust from and day shift to graveyard in many lines of work; and for pilots we should at least have the same standards.pilots sleeping! More than half the pilots I fly with inadvertently fall asleep during flight at least one time per day. If we don't allow for proper rest on overnights and at home; we need to allow pilot to rest while flying with the autopilot on long legs. This isn't so much because rest while flying would be quality rest; but it would protect pilots from action against them due to violations resulting from sleeping during flight. If I could have napped during flight during my last trip I would have been safer and better rested.crew - remember the old FAA factors affecting safety; operation; aircraft; environment; and crew? Well; some of these we can't control; but to have a well rested crew we can control.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier First Officer makes a passioned and informative plea for reformed scheduling practices to combat institutionalized fatigue among flight crews.

Narrative: The purpose of this narrative is to provide a formal account of factors that contributed to my flying in the most demanding conditions while fatigued. Day four of my trip began with a 4:XX am report time. The first leg I was pilot flying and began with extremely windy conditions; moderate turbulence; and an ILS approach to landing in a strong crosswind and +-15 KT windshear. The third leg I was pilot flying and takeoff was into deteriorating weather with strong winds and followed a Boeing 737 that had just missed the approach due to strong winds. The landing was from another ILS approach. I was very tired during this third leg due to the 5:XX am; 5:XX am; 4:XX am; and 4:XX am report times on days one through four respectively combined with long duty days and an average of 5 legs per day. Leg three terminated at an out station.The proper decision for me to make would have been to call in fatigued. The decision I made was to continue flying since I was pilot not flying on leg four and I felt I could do this well. I made several small errors this leg. For example; after reading the correct bug settings on the descent checklist I somehow jumped to the before start checklist and said 'steering'. This was the final error that proved to me I was not fit to fly because I could not correctly perform simple tasks. After this leg I decided to call in sick; however in my tired state of mind I made another bad decision. I decided to delay boarding five minutes while I had a cup of coffee and then re-evaluate how I felt. I decided to fly leg five since I had a long break afterward and could take a nap before leg six. Leg five I was pilot flying. We blocked out shortly before 11:XX am local time; and the current weather observation at our destination included winds of 33 gusting to 40 KTS; with peak wind at 45 KTS. The TAF for our ETA was winds at 34 gusting to 45 KTS. When we arrived we flew an instrument approach because of low visibility due to dust. On a four mile final I got the runway in sight; and surface winds reported by the Tower were 35 KTS gusting to 50. This was leg five. I would finally have a break to eat; drink; nap; coffee and fly one more leg home as pilot not flying. I should never have been flying fatigued in these conditions and I was not fit to fly.The important question is why was I; then; flying? I did not call in sick at the outstation since this is detrimental to operations.Chronic fatigue? My fatigue has become chronic. Each week I thoroughly wear myself out flying typical schedules and I have two to three nights at home to recover. After two plus years of these schedules I am showing up to work tired and worn out.Aging pilot group? The pilot group; including me; is aging so much that we no longer have the luxury of over scheduling twenty something year old pilots who can continually function safely on little rest.Circadian swaps? I have often been mixing AM and PM schedules. Today I reported for duty at 4:XX am; and later this week I will be working PM reserve and likely flying until midnight.Too tired to make a prudent decision? Calling in sick or fatigued is a difficult decision to make because of pressure from the company; pressure to get home and fulfill family obligations; pressure from the crew not to inconvenience them; and the pressure from myself to get passengers where they need to go. [The practice of] scheduling pilots to fly schedules that often necessitate a sick or fatigued call when there is so much pressure to continue flying is a defacto policy of causing pilots to willfully fly while fatigued.Financial difficulty? Most fatigue calls cause a lowering of minimum guarantee. I've got a family; and mortgage; and with our second child we will qualify for $268/month food stamps.Job security? Obviously multiple fatigue and/or sick calls are not good for anyone's job. We do not have enough sick time to call in sick every time that would beprudent to avoid fatigue. Calling in fatigued often would result in not being able to pay the mortgage.What are the fixes? Not to rely on a pilot's judgment as to when he/she pilot is fatigued! The way trips are currently built obviously is cause enough for fatigue. We need objective standards of adequate rest. Much like a decision height; we need trips that keep duty days under 10 hours; and schedules that do not circadian swap anymore than one time every three months. Three months is the time it takes to adjust from and day shift to graveyard in many lines of work; and for pilots we should at least have the same standards.Pilots sleeping! More than half the pilots I fly with inadvertently fall asleep during flight at least one time per day. If we don't allow for proper rest on overnights and at home; we need to allow pilot to rest while flying with the autopilot on long legs. This isn't so much because rest while flying would be quality rest; but it would protect pilots from action against them due to violations resulting from sleeping during flight. If I could have napped during flight during my last trip I would have been safer and better rested.CREW - Remember the old FAA factors affecting safety; Operation; Aircraft; Environment; and Crew? Well; some of these we can't control; but to have a well rested crew we can control.

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.