Fatigue Management

The Contribution of Group Processes.
Aviation human factors research has
shown the importance of group processes in
the cockpit (eg, cohesion, communication
flow, role definition, workload management
and leadership style) in moderating the
impact of fatigue. In a landmark
investigation of the operational
significance of fatigue, a surprising finding
was that many tired crews were rated as
performing significantly better, and
making fewer serious operational errors,
than rested, pre-duty crews. The fatigued
crews had completed three days of
operations as a team in a complex
simulation, whereas the pre-duty crews did
not have the benefit of recent experience with each other. It was concluded
that group processes in established teams have a powerful effect on
performance and may, up to a point, moderate some of the debilitating
consequences of fatigue. This finding has clear implications for crew
scheduling/composition both in aviation and in other defence teams involved
in highly complex tasks.
During Operation ALLIANCE, a month long airlift
(January 1996) in support of Canadian troops in Bosnia,
18 Transport Group CC-130 Hercules carried out 86
missions, from Trenton to Split, with aircraft landing in
theatre every four hours. Most crews attained the 120 hour
maximum allowable flying time per 30 day period in as
little as two weeks. There were several reports of aircrew
falling asleep at the controls.
M. Paul, R. Pigeau & H. Weinburg
Fatigue in long-haul re-supply missions, 1998
Preventing Fatigue in Air Operations. Strategies for the prevention of
fatigue in air operations include:
a. supervision and review of mission planning;
b. awareness of circadian rhythms;
c. rotation of cockpit duties (where feasible);
d. regular inflight feedback on performance;
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