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A commuter air carrier flight crew addressed fatigue issues related to continuous duty overnight scheduled assigned to reserves by releasing them to 'rest' early in the morning so as to make them legal to fly the sequence.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 948274 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201105 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Commercial |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Altitude Overshoot Deviation - Procedural Clearance |
Narrative:
Crew scheduling called and released me to rest at 0600 so that I was legal for a cdo (continuous duty overnight) flight with a report of 2110 local. Felt fine going into the duty period. Got to the hotel and got about 4.5 hours of sleep. [I] reported for the flight at 0515 for a 0600 departure. I again felt fine at time of report. While enroute [I] started to feel more tired as the flight progressed. The actual event was that we were cleared to 8;000 ft and 7;000 ft was set in the alerter. Did not notice mistake until ATC advised us of altitude deviation. Immediately corrected and returned to assigned altitude.switching reserves from 'normal' duty periods to cdo duty periods within a calendar day is dangerous. Reserves should be given at least 24 hours notice to try and correct for circadian rhythm irregularities. Long flights on cdos contribute to fatigue because you might feel fine at departure; but halfway through a two-plus hour flight begin to feel fatigued. Total block should not exceed the sleep in a hotel.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A commuter air carrier flight crew addressed fatigue issues related to Continuous Duty Overnight scheduled assigned to reserves by releasing them to 'rest' early in the morning so as to make them legal to fly the sequence.
Narrative: Crew Scheduling called and released me to rest at 0600 so that I was legal for a CDO (Continuous Duty Overnight) flight with a report of 2110 local. Felt fine going into the duty period. Got to the hotel and got about 4.5 hours of sleep. [I] reported for the flight at 0515 for a 0600 departure. I again felt fine at time of report. While enroute [I] started to feel more tired as the flight progressed. The actual event was that we were cleared to 8;000 FT and 7;000 FT was set in the alerter. Did not notice mistake until ATC advised us of altitude deviation. Immediately corrected and returned to assigned altitude.Switching reserves from 'normal' duty periods to CDO duty periods within a calendar day is dangerous. Reserves should be given at least 24 hours notice to try and correct for circadian rhythm irregularities. Long flights on CDOs contribute to fatigue because you might feel fine at departure; but halfway through a two-plus hour flight begin to feel fatigued. Total block should not exceed the sleep in a hotel.
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.