I August 2013, a UPS cargo jet crashed and busted into flames in Birmingham Shuttles worth International Airport as the pilot tried to land without a full instrument landing system. The pilots in the cargo plane were recorded to have been complaining over tiring work schedules, which may have caused fatigue leading to the errors that resulted in the fatal crash (Fox News, 2014). The pilot made some errors and failed to fully program the plane's computer system thus went ahead to land without critical navigation help. The cockpit voice record transcript indicates that the pilots were discussing over lack of enough rest time between their work shifts as compared to passenger airline pilots.
Problem Statement – What is the problem ?
Fatigue is weariness beyond normal tiredness, and it can be either physical or mental. Physical fatigue is mainly caused by physical exercise or lack of sleep and can lead to mental fatigue. Mental fatigue leads to poor concentration, sleepiness, and decreased attention in performing complex tasks (Skybrary, 2019). Fatigue is of great concern to pilots as loss of concentration or decreased attention to by pilots can lead to errors that can lead to death. The best medication for fatigue is enough rest and sleep. The impact of fatigue on pilots and ATCO is life-threatening, and pilots need to have enough rest and sleeping hours to ensure optimal attention during the flight.
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Significance of the Problem – Why is this a problem?
Fatigue among pilots has a significant impact on the aviation standards of operations and increases the likeliness of error in operations. From past airline accidents, fatigue has been noted to lead to inaccurate flying, poor instruction input into the plane's computer system leading to equipment malfunctions, missed radio communications, inaccuracy in performing routine tasks, and taking micro-sleeps while on a flight. To Air Traffic Controllers, Fatigue leads to poor decision making, forgetfulness, and poor situational awareness hence misleading the pilot during takeoff and landing (Skybrary, 2019). All pilots and ATCO need to have enough sleep and rest to avoid possible errors that lead to death.
Two Alternative Actions
There are many possible ways to ensure fatigue is avoided by both pilots and ATCO. Below is a discussion of two strategies the first by Airline industries and the second by the pilots and ATCO employees.
Appropriate work schedules : Employers should ensure pilots' flight schedules are constructed with enough rest and off-duty time (Skybrary, 2019). Every single pilot and ATCO should work below the recommended working hours by the federal regulations for passenger airline pilots. The advantage of this alternative is that pilots shall have enough rest and off-time to rest and sleep. The disadvantage of this alternative is that the employers shall lose financially since they will have to employ more pilots.
Pilots and ATCO have personal rest strategies : An individual's rest or sleep strategy may impact the level of rest achieved (Skybrary, 2019). As some sleep to rest, others opt to watch a movie as resting. All pilots and ATCO staff thus need to be trained on resting strategies to avoid fatigue. The advantage of this strategy is that each pilot shall self manage fatigue avoidance. The disadvantage of this strategy is one cannot establish if an individual pilot's strategy is effective.
Recommendation
Fatigue is a major cause of aviation errors and has been the major cause of death in the history of aviation. It is recommended that fatigue avoidance should be a concern to both airline companies and individual pilots and ATCO staff. A joint effort by airlines, aviation authorities, and individuals is the best way to address fatigue avoidance by pilots and ATCO. By minimizing fatigue levels among Aviation employees, the level of aviation errors shall significantly reduce; hence the number of accidents shall also reduce.
References
Fox News (2014). UPS crash: Fatigue, pilot error blamed in a deadly accident . Available online at https://www.foxnews.com/us/ups-crash-fatigue-pilot-error-blamed-in-deadly-accident
Skybrary (2019). Fatigue . Available online at https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Fatigue
