The National Transportation Safety Board says too many airline pilots are sleepy at the controls and that federal aviation and airline officials should rewrite the rules governing the number of hours pilots may work.
The NTSB voted in favor of the recommendation Tuesday after discussing accidents and close calls in which pilot fatigue played a role. In one astonishing incident in February, the two pilots of Go! Airlines Flight 1002 fell asleep and flew past their Hawaii destination, cruising out over the ocean for 18 minutes before waking up and safely landing the plane, USA Today reports.
The pilots, an NTSB investigator said, had been flying together for three days on a “demanding” schedule of several short flights that “involved early start times.”
Federal law allows pilots to work up to 16 hours a day, with eight of those hours behind the controls of an aircraft. In some situations, pilots may be allowed to work longer.
The NTSB has called on the Federal Aviation Administration to join with airline officials in analyzing existing pilot fatigue reports and revising the law.
The controversy has been simmering for more than a decade. Airline executives oppose changing the rules, saying crews get the required eight hours of rest time between shifts. But, as pilots have said in previous news stories, that period starts when the cockpit door opens, and it ends as passengers are boarding the flight eight hours later. Factoring in travel time to and from the airport and grabbing a meal, pilots say, they are lucky to get four or five hours of sleep before stepping back into the cockpit.
This is unacceptable. These pilots take hundreds of people 40,000 feet into the air for hours at a stretch. Passengers rightly expect that those at the controls of these aircraft are alert and prepared for whatever may occur. The cockpit of an airliner is no place for a sleepy driver. The FAA and airline officials must take the NTSB’s advice and revise the rules to ensure the utmost safety of air travelers.
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