Fatigue Management

In terms of workload, a brief look at the helicopter pilot's duties is illustrative.
These duties include: set-up memorisation; constant switching of visual
attention between inside and outside the cockpit; assimilating various
multi-function displays; listening to multiple radio nets; listening to auditory
cues from the aircraft; constant assimilation of information to produce and
maintain situation awareness of space, time, movement, system status,
message traffic, threat status and mission status; error checking and
recovery; communicating with copilot and crew; and other general
‘housekeeping' duties.
When given the ability to work aircrew for 16 hours in any
24 hour period, the tendency may be to do so, particularly
for squadron key appointments. For short periods this is
sustainable; however, over the medium-long term, fatigue
becomes evident in the aircrew
... Currently the aircrew have a planned two month
rotation out of theatre to prevent the onset of fatigue.
Land Operational Analysis Team,
Lessons and Impressions:
Operation WARDEN/Operation STABILISE, 2000
Many of the abilities most affected by fatigue, often without recognition, are
essential to flight performance and safety. Even subtle performance
decrements, that are characteristic of fatigue, can have serious consequences.
New technologies are constantly introduced in the cockpit, often with limited
consideration of the resulting human factors issues. For example, there is
clearly a pressing need for research into human performance using night
vision goggles, particularly in relation to fatigue effects.
Potential Impacts of Fatigue on Aircrew Performance. The potential
impacts of fatigue on aircrew performance include:
a. diminished crew coordination, vigilance and psychomotor
performance (although there are conflicting findings on the
latter);
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