Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Announcement: New Location for this Blog
We have updated our web site to include all current blog entries. Please go to www.bowles-langley.com to read current blogs and track the latest news about BLT.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Suggestion 13
According to the article below, the Air Traffic Controllers Association has drawn up a list of 12 suggestions to fight fatigue in the control tower. I am not sure where they are in the process but we would like to add one more suggestion to the list. Suggestion 13 is to provide the Alertometer App with the new monitoring function to each controller. (The monitoring feature will be available Sept 2011.)
Aviation workers suffering from fatigue has been a problem identified by the Federal Aviation Administration several years ago, yet no solutions have been implemented and five air traffic control employees have recently fallen asleep during overnight shifts. Two of the five were fired.
"It's tough to see controllers facing firing when the problem of (midnight) shift sleep deprivation has been acknowledged by the FAA," said retired controller Rick Perl. "Sacrificial lambs is how it feels to me."
A sixth recent incident involved the suspension of an air traffic controller for watching a portable DVD player during the shift. Former and current employees told the Associated Press that it is a common practice for overnight workers to watch movies or read magazines to help them stay awake. They added that staring at a radar scope for the eight hour shift in a dimly lit room is a recipe for fatigue.
Since 1993, when fatigue was first cited as a contributing factor to an accident, 14 aviation accidents and 263 fatalities have occurred due to or in part by fatigue according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Several solutions have been suggested and put aside, including allowing air traffic controllers to sleep during shifts when not directing aircraft, to take naps during scheduled breaks, and imposing shift limits on schedules.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association created a group to address controller fatigue, and the group offered 12 recommendations to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt after a year and a half of research.
Sleeping during scheduled breaks or during flights when the plane was at a cruising altitude and neither ascending nor descending were two of the group’s suggestions. They cited sleep experts’ advice that scheduled naps during night shifts, especially between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., would help keep workers alert.
Babbitt was "abundantly enthusiastic about us moving forward," said Peter Gimbrere, who is spearheading the controllers association's fatigue effort.
However, administrator and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rejected both recommendations.
"We don't pay people to sleep at work at the FAA," Babbitt told AP last week. "I don't know anybody that pays anybody to sleep unless you're buying people to have sleep studies."
Patrick Forrey, a former president of the controllers' union, said that the decision to ignore the recommendation was "unfortunate and political."
"People think, 'Why are we paying people to take a nap?'" Forrey said in an interview. "It doesn't necessarily play well with the public, especially in an economy like today."
Current controllers’ association president Paul Rinaldi said Friday that he is pushing for the FAA to embrace all 12 suggestions.
"The recommendations are based on advice from NASA and the military and in line with international air traffic control best practices," he said in a statement.
He added that small recent changes by the FAA such as adding a second overnight traffic controller and giving workers an extra hour between shifts have “barely scratched the surface” in finding a permanent and workable fatigue solution.
Safety consultant and former NTSB member John Goglia said the FAA’s committee “is going nowhere.” He said that airlines don’t want new rules because they don’t want to deal with schedule complications and unions don’t want new rules because “they’re working tons of overtime to make up for the pay cuts that they took.”
"Everybody who works nights in aviation knows if you're not busy you're going to fall asleep because you're chronically fatigued," Goglia added.
The FAA is currently reviewing all 12 recommendations according to spokeswoman Laura Brown.
Aviation workers suffering from fatigue has been a problem identified by the Federal Aviation Administration several years ago, yet no solutions have been implemented and five air traffic control employees have recently fallen asleep during overnight shifts. Two of the five were fired.
"It's tough to see controllers facing firing when the problem of (midnight) shift sleep deprivation has been acknowledged by the FAA," said retired controller Rick Perl. "Sacrificial lambs is how it feels to me."
A sixth recent incident involved the suspension of an air traffic controller for watching a portable DVD player during the shift. Former and current employees told the Associated Press that it is a common practice for overnight workers to watch movies or read magazines to help them stay awake. They added that staring at a radar scope for the eight hour shift in a dimly lit room is a recipe for fatigue.
Since 1993, when fatigue was first cited as a contributing factor to an accident, 14 aviation accidents and 263 fatalities have occurred due to or in part by fatigue according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Several solutions have been suggested and put aside, including allowing air traffic controllers to sleep during shifts when not directing aircraft, to take naps during scheduled breaks, and imposing shift limits on schedules.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association created a group to address controller fatigue, and the group offered 12 recommendations to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt after a year and a half of research.
Sleeping during scheduled breaks or during flights when the plane was at a cruising altitude and neither ascending nor descending were two of the group’s suggestions. They cited sleep experts’ advice that scheduled naps during night shifts, especially between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., would help keep workers alert.
Babbitt was "abundantly enthusiastic about us moving forward," said Peter Gimbrere, who is spearheading the controllers association's fatigue effort.
However, administrator and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rejected both recommendations.
"We don't pay people to sleep at work at the FAA," Babbitt told AP last week. "I don't know anybody that pays anybody to sleep unless you're buying people to have sleep studies."
Patrick Forrey, a former president of the controllers' union, said that the decision to ignore the recommendation was "unfortunate and political."
"People think, 'Why are we paying people to take a nap?'" Forrey said in an interview. "It doesn't necessarily play well with the public, especially in an economy like today."
Current controllers’ association president Paul Rinaldi said Friday that he is pushing for the FAA to embrace all 12 suggestions.
"The recommendations are based on advice from NASA and the military and in line with international air traffic control best practices," he said in a statement.
He added that small recent changes by the FAA such as adding a second overnight traffic controller and giving workers an extra hour between shifts have “barely scratched the surface” in finding a permanent and workable fatigue solution.
Safety consultant and former NTSB member John Goglia said the FAA’s committee “is going nowhere.” He said that airlines don’t want new rules because they don’t want to deal with schedule complications and unions don’t want new rules because “they’re working tons of overtime to make up for the pay cuts that they took.”
"Everybody who works nights in aviation knows if you're not busy you're going to fall asleep because you're chronically fatigued," Goglia added.
The FAA is currently reviewing all 12 recommendations according to spokeswoman Laura Brown.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Alertometer
BLT has introduced Alertometer a new App for the iPhone. An Android version is in the plans. We will be introducing exciting new features for this App over the next months to make it a useful tool for managers.
The advantage of the iPhone (or Android platform phone) is obvious. First, the device is portable so an operator can have it with him/her at all times. In addition, it is a personal device that can be used for personal feedback. And iPhones are connection devices which open up an entire world of features and possibilities. As we develop this App many of these features will be incorporated.
The advantage of the iPhone (or Android platform phone) is obvious. First, the device is portable so an operator can have it with him/her at all times. In addition, it is a personal device that can be used for personal feedback. And iPhones are connection devices which open up an entire world of features and possibilities. As we develop this App many of these features will be incorporated.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Colgan Crash
The following is from the Seattle PI:
Source: Seattle PI
The Rundown on Commuting and Fatigue on the Flight Deck
Before the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407, there wasn't a lot of attention paid to the oftentimes grueling commuting schedule of pilots in the United States. At the office of the International Civil Aviation Organization, however, they've been talking about this for years. Next month, in fact, ICAO is expected to adopt a fatigue risk management system that could result in airlines and regulators taking a more sophisticated approach rather than just smacking an arbitrary number into the rule book that says, "This is how much you can fly."
So it made for some pretty interesting reading tonight when a correspondent sent to me, hot off the press, the just-released interim report examining commuting and pilot fatigue. The U.S. Congress launched the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board on the subject with the full support of anyone who read even a single story about the Colgan Air fiasco.
The picture that emerged at the NTSB probable cause hearing into the crash was heartbreaking. It was downright tragic just how compromised both pilots were when they took command of the Bombardier Dash-8. The captain, Marvin Renslow, commuted to Newark from his home in Florida the night before the flight. He was apparently up working on a computer at 3:00 o'clock in morning. First officer Rebecca Shaw - sick with a head cold - arrived in Newark after jump-seating her way across the country from her home in Seattle. The NTSB didn't list fatigue or commuting as contributing factors in the final report, but in a distinction without a difference, concluded that the pilots' performance was likely impaired because of fatigue, but that it could not be determined "conclusively".
Until this disheartening accident no one apparently thought to ask just how many of the nation's pilots commute to work, how many hours that commute might be or how those travel hours should be factored into their flight schedules.
Which brings us to the NRC's assignment. Between now and the end of summer, they have ambitious plans to get the answers to those questions and many more. Eight pilot unions and nine airline associations have been asked to contribute, from business aviation to cargo operators, from the Flight Safety Foundation to the Regional Airline Association.
The committee is gathering ASARs data and NTSB accident reports and most illuminating I think, will be the zip code analysis, which will give the first comprehensive view of where pilots live compared to where they report to work.
Frankly, I can't wait to get my hands on that report and everyone else who travels by air and that especially includes the pilots, should feel the same way. We've been living in the age of 24/7 for far too long not to know more about it affects performance on the flight deck.
Source: Seattle PI
The Rundown on Commuting and Fatigue on the Flight Deck
Before the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407, there wasn't a lot of attention paid to the oftentimes grueling commuting schedule of pilots in the United States. At the office of the International Civil Aviation Organization, however, they've been talking about this for years. Next month, in fact, ICAO is expected to adopt a fatigue risk management system that could result in airlines and regulators taking a more sophisticated approach rather than just smacking an arbitrary number into the rule book that says, "This is how much you can fly."
So it made for some pretty interesting reading tonight when a correspondent sent to me, hot off the press, the just-released interim report examining commuting and pilot fatigue. The U.S. Congress launched the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board on the subject with the full support of anyone who read even a single story about the Colgan Air fiasco.
The picture that emerged at the NTSB probable cause hearing into the crash was heartbreaking. It was downright tragic just how compromised both pilots were when they took command of the Bombardier Dash-8. The captain, Marvin Renslow, commuted to Newark from his home in Florida the night before the flight. He was apparently up working on a computer at 3:00 o'clock in morning. First officer Rebecca Shaw - sick with a head cold - arrived in Newark after jump-seating her way across the country from her home in Seattle. The NTSB didn't list fatigue or commuting as contributing factors in the final report, but in a distinction without a difference, concluded that the pilots' performance was likely impaired because of fatigue, but that it could not be determined "conclusively".
Until this disheartening accident no one apparently thought to ask just how many of the nation's pilots commute to work, how many hours that commute might be or how those travel hours should be factored into their flight schedules.
Which brings us to the NRC's assignment. Between now and the end of summer, they have ambitious plans to get the answers to those questions and many more. Eight pilot unions and nine airline associations have been asked to contribute, from business aviation to cargo operators, from the Flight Safety Foundation to the Regional Airline Association.
The committee is gathering ASARs data and NTSB accident reports and most illuminating I think, will be the zip code analysis, which will give the first comprehensive view of where pilots live compared to where they report to work.
Frankly, I can't wait to get my hands on that report and everyone else who travels by air and that especially includes the pilots, should feel the same way. We've been living in the age of 24/7 for far too long not to know more about it affects performance on the flight deck.
Monday, June 07, 2010
Reminder In Case You Forgot
The National Transportation Safety Board has conducted studies, which concluded driver fatigue could be significantly implicated in up to 20% of all large truck accident fatalities and 7% of all accidents involving both fatalities and injuries. In fact, one-third of drivers questioned in a survey admitted they had fallen asleep at the wheel in the last 12 months. Research shows driver fatigue is most notable between 2 am and 6 am, followed by mid-afternoon. Drivers are under constant pressure to meet delivery deadlines and profit margins can be quite slim, thus forcing drivers to continue driving when fatigued.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
FAA Still Not Getting It
Pilot Fatigue/Sleep Monitoring Program Largely Ignored by FAA/NTSB
With more than 250 air crashes in the last 15 years linked to pilot fatigue or sleep deprivation issues, it seems our own Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) as well as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been asleep in their administrative duties. A March 11, 2010 article from WBZTV discloses that data "collected from NASA, the FAA, and the NTSB showed that "over the past five years there have been 689 incidents where pilot fatigue caused a safety concern or a crash." Documents tell of pilots nodding off on approaches and even landing on the wrong runways or taxiways. Pilots are sometimes allowed to work 16 hours in a day, though only eight can be in the cockpit. One retired commercial airline pilot admitted, "I can remember more than one time waking up while we were in route. I had been asleep, looking at the clock, looking at the watch, I had been asleep for 20 minutes, 30 minutes."
Despite the uptick in reports of fatigue and sleep linked accidents, all we continue to hear from the FAA and the NTSB are empty promises of coming changes. In June of 2009 Randy Babbitt (current FAA Administrator) pledged to change pilot regulations, most of which have been in effect since the 1940s. He told reporter Nancy Cordes in her article for CBS News, "We're gonna have a tough decision to make and I don't mind making it." The only recent change to policy has been his approval for pilots to use antidepressant medications on the job. The most common side effects of antidepressants are drowsiness, dizziness and sleep problems, including insomnia. Mr. Babbitt feels that "culture change" and tolerance for those afflicted with depression are more important than the safety of the millions flying the skies. The FAA's mission statement is "to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world." The FAA's vision statement is "to improve the safety and efficiency of flight. We are responsive to our customers and are accountable to the taxpayer and the flying public." The recent antidepressant policy change as well as the continued delay in amending pilot work hour regulations seriously conflict with the FAA's stated mission and vision objectives.
While our own FAA and NTSB are asleep at the "stick", allowing the airlines to continue to overwork their pilots, most of the international safety boards are joining them in the bunkhouse. The CBC in Canada reported in a March 2010 article that "Twenty-eight people have died in a dozen plane crashes across Canada over the past decade in which fatigue was cited as a possible factor." The Canadian Transportation Safety Board reports note "pilot-fatigue-related issues in six deadly crashes and in an additional six accidents – including the Air France crash in Toronto – where all on board survived." Canadian regulations allow pilots to be on duty for 14 hours, or 17 in "unforeseen circumstances." Barry Wiszniowski, a pilot and expert with the Air Canada Pilots Association, says this about regulations in Canada, "Ours haven't been modified since 1995 and prior to that in the ‘40s."Martin Eley, head of civil aviation at Transport Canada, after initially dismissing pilot fatigue complaints from unions, says, "we've certainly moved on…in June, we are tabling the terms of reference for a working group to actually start looking at the current science and looking at where we need to update our regulations." He noted that "it will likely take a couple of years before the rules change." A 2001 study recommended six changes to work regulations. Four of the six were ignored by Transport Canada. The changes were to address duty schedules relative to circadian rhythm effects on sleep.
Drew Dawson, an expert on fatigue in the workplace, makes the frightening statement:
"There's nothing like a smoking hole in the ground to address attention."
Pilot Kent Wien, in Gadling.com, accused the NTSB of "glossing over fatigue" as the cause of the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, New York last year. They placed total blame on the pilot's inabilty to properly handle a stall. The crash killed 50 people and the NTSB overlooked the fact that both the pilot and the co-pilot had little sleep in the 24 hours prior to their flight. They placed total blame on inadequate flight simulator training. Robert Sumwalt, one of the NTSB investigators in the case, refused to allow fatigue as a contributing factor saying, "just because the crew was fatigued, that doesn't mean it was a factor in their performance." Sleep deprivation studies have proven that performance levels and response speeds for sleep deprived individuals are equivalent or worse than blood alcohol levels of 0.05%. A British Medical Journal study concluded that fatigue does affect performance, finding that, "getting less than 6 hours a night can affect coordination, reaction time, and judgment" and poses "a very serious risk" to drivers." The NTSB , like the FAA, chooses to ignore the fatigue and sleep deprivation issues jeopardizing the air safety they are charged to protect.
While air transport safety boards and accident investigators overlook fatigue and sleep deprivation as a cause of human error disasters, Air New Zealand has been monitoring and analyzing fatigue, sleep, and fatigue countermeasures since 1998. "Air New Zealand was one of the first airlines in the world to introduce a policy for controlled rest on the flight deck (cockpit napping)." The policy was supported by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. It allows for a fatigued crew member to take a 45 minute nap after a briefing of the crew members as to time of waking. "No course changes, altitude changes or fuel transfers are permitted during this period." The napping is only permitted for 2, 3, and 4=person crews. The fatigue management program has full support of airline management and union groups. Fatigue report forms from pilots detailing excess fatigue, possible causes and remedies are passed to Flight Operations management for possible action or comment and are then analyzed by a Flight Crew Fatigue Study Group (FCFSG) monthly. The group looks for patterns and problems with particular duties and routes.
Pilots participating in studies wear a "Sleepwatch" on the wrist. The sleepwatch measures wrist activity. It provides information on "timing and quality of sleep." Three questionnaires are utilized in-flight. Fatigue Visual Analogue Scales rate how pilots feel. A Profile of Mood States asks pilots to score certain words based on their moods. The Stanford Sleepiness Scale scores word pictures of the individual's fatigue feelings. The questionnaires are short and only require a few minutes of their time. The pilots then take a quick test called the Psychomotor Vigilance Task in which they have to extinguish a randomly flashing light in a small box by pushing a button using his or her thumb. The notebook sized black box measures and records performance and alertness rankings. More importantly it measures "lapses" which took more than 500 milliseconds to accomplish. The FCFSG has taken the data from these studies and has modified "flight and duty time limitations that are considered safe and acceptable on the basis of reliable data." The group hopes to go pro-active in the future to advise tours of duty before they are introduced instead of modifying them after studies and reports have been completed. The FCFSG has decided to forgo the marketing of their system and they have opened it to the public domain "for the betterment of flight safety in the International Aviation Community."
On March 22, 2010 the United States Senate unanimously passed the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (S.1451) by a margin of 93-0. Chairman Rockefeller made airline safety a "top priority in the bill." It requires the FAA to "revise the flight and duty time regulations for commercial air carrier pilots and issue the final rule within one year to address pilot fatigue. The existing FAA guidelines on flight time and duty limitations were established in the 1940s without significant modification." Chairman Rockefeller in a press release of December 2009 said, "Addressing pilot fatigue is an issue for which it has taken far too long to achieve meaningful reform. The travelling public deserves a better effort to make certain any plane on which they fly has an alert and well rested flight crew."
Fatigue, sleep deprivation, and their effects on our safety in the air have been sufficiently documented. It is time for the FAA, the NTSB, and their partnered agencies across the globe to wake up and to follow the lead of New Zealand Air. Millions of lives are at stake. They should not need any more "smoking holes in the ground" to wake up from the sleep paralysis that's been plaguing them for years.
Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/pilot-fatiguesleep-monitoring-program-largely-ignored-by-faantsb-2209186.html"
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Pilot Fatigue/Sleep Monitoring Program Largely Ignored by FAA/NTSB
With more than 250 air crashes in the last 15 years linked to pilot fatigue or sleep deprivation issues, it seems our own Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) as well as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been asleep in their administrative duties. A March 11, 2010 article from WBZTV discloses that data "collected from NASA, the FAA, and the NTSB showed that "over the past five years there have been 689 incidents where pilot fatigue caused a safety concern or a crash." Documents tell of pilots nodding off on approaches and even landing on the wrong runways or taxiways. Pilots are sometimes allowed to work 16 hours in a day, though only eight can be in the cockpit. One retired commercial airline pilot admitted, "I can remember more than one time waking up while we were in route. I had been asleep, looking at the clock, looking at the watch, I had been asleep for 20 minutes, 30 minutes."
Despite the uptick in reports of fatigue and sleep linked accidents, all we continue to hear from the FAA and the NTSB are empty promises of coming changes. In June of 2009 Randy Babbitt (current FAA Administrator) pledged to change pilot regulations, most of which have been in effect since the 1940s. He told reporter Nancy Cordes in her article for CBS News, "We're gonna have a tough decision to make and I don't mind making it." The only recent change to policy has been his approval for pilots to use antidepressant medications on the job. The most common side effects of antidepressants are drowsiness, dizziness and sleep problems, including insomnia. Mr. Babbitt feels that "culture change" and tolerance for those afflicted with depression are more important than the safety of the millions flying the skies. The FAA's mission statement is "to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world." The FAA's vision statement is "to improve the safety and efficiency of flight. We are responsive to our customers and are accountable to the taxpayer and the flying public." The recent antidepressant policy change as well as the continued delay in amending pilot work hour regulations seriously conflict with the FAA's stated mission and vision objectives.
While our own FAA and NTSB are asleep at the "stick", allowing the airlines to continue to overwork their pilots, most of the international safety boards are joining them in the bunkhouse. The CBC in Canada reported in a March 2010 article that "Twenty-eight people have died in a dozen plane crashes across Canada over the past decade in which fatigue was cited as a possible factor." The Canadian Transportation Safety Board reports note "pilot-fatigue-related issues in six deadly crashes and in an additional six accidents – including the Air France crash in Toronto – where all on board survived." Canadian regulations allow pilots to be on duty for 14 hours, or 17 in "unforeseen circumstances." Barry Wiszniowski, a pilot and expert with the Air Canada Pilots Association, says this about regulations in Canada, "Ours haven't been modified since 1995 and prior to that in the ‘40s."Martin Eley, head of civil aviation at Transport Canada, after initially dismissing pilot fatigue complaints from unions, says, "we've certainly moved on…in June, we are tabling the terms of reference for a working group to actually start looking at the current science and looking at where we need to update our regulations." He noted that "it will likely take a couple of years before the rules change." A 2001 study recommended six changes to work regulations. Four of the six were ignored by Transport Canada. The changes were to address duty schedules relative to circadian rhythm effects on sleep.
Drew Dawson, an expert on fatigue in the workplace, makes the frightening statement:
"There's nothing like a smoking hole in the ground to address attention."
Pilot Kent Wien, in Gadling.com, accused the NTSB of "glossing over fatigue" as the cause of the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, New York last year. They placed total blame on the pilot's inabilty to properly handle a stall. The crash killed 50 people and the NTSB overlooked the fact that both the pilot and the co-pilot had little sleep in the 24 hours prior to their flight. They placed total blame on inadequate flight simulator training. Robert Sumwalt, one of the NTSB investigators in the case, refused to allow fatigue as a contributing factor saying, "just because the crew was fatigued, that doesn't mean it was a factor in their performance." Sleep deprivation studies have proven that performance levels and response speeds for sleep deprived individuals are equivalent or worse than blood alcohol levels of 0.05%. A British Medical Journal study concluded that fatigue does affect performance, finding that, "getting less than 6 hours a night can affect coordination, reaction time, and judgment" and poses "a very serious risk" to drivers." The NTSB , like the FAA, chooses to ignore the fatigue and sleep deprivation issues jeopardizing the air safety they are charged to protect.
While air transport safety boards and accident investigators overlook fatigue and sleep deprivation as a cause of human error disasters, Air New Zealand has been monitoring and analyzing fatigue, sleep, and fatigue countermeasures since 1998. "Air New Zealand was one of the first airlines in the world to introduce a policy for controlled rest on the flight deck (cockpit napping)." The policy was supported by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. It allows for a fatigued crew member to take a 45 minute nap after a briefing of the crew members as to time of waking. "No course changes, altitude changes or fuel transfers are permitted during this period." The napping is only permitted for 2, 3, and 4=person crews. The fatigue management program has full support of airline management and union groups. Fatigue report forms from pilots detailing excess fatigue, possible causes and remedies are passed to Flight Operations management for possible action or comment and are then analyzed by a Flight Crew Fatigue Study Group (FCFSG) monthly. The group looks for patterns and problems with particular duties and routes.
Pilots participating in studies wear a "Sleepwatch" on the wrist. The sleepwatch measures wrist activity. It provides information on "timing and quality of sleep." Three questionnaires are utilized in-flight. Fatigue Visual Analogue Scales rate how pilots feel. A Profile of Mood States asks pilots to score certain words based on their moods. The Stanford Sleepiness Scale scores word pictures of the individual's fatigue feelings. The questionnaires are short and only require a few minutes of their time. The pilots then take a quick test called the Psychomotor Vigilance Task in which they have to extinguish a randomly flashing light in a small box by pushing a button using his or her thumb. The notebook sized black box measures and records performance and alertness rankings. More importantly it measures "lapses" which took more than 500 milliseconds to accomplish. The FCFSG has taken the data from these studies and has modified "flight and duty time limitations that are considered safe and acceptable on the basis of reliable data." The group hopes to go pro-active in the future to advise tours of duty before they are introduced instead of modifying them after studies and reports have been completed. The FCFSG has decided to forgo the marketing of their system and they have opened it to the public domain "for the betterment of flight safety in the International Aviation Community."
On March 22, 2010 the United States Senate unanimously passed the FAA Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act (S.1451) by a margin of 93-0. Chairman Rockefeller made airline safety a "top priority in the bill." It requires the FAA to "revise the flight and duty time regulations for commercial air carrier pilots and issue the final rule within one year to address pilot fatigue. The existing FAA guidelines on flight time and duty limitations were established in the 1940s without significant modification." Chairman Rockefeller in a press release of December 2009 said, "Addressing pilot fatigue is an issue for which it has taken far too long to achieve meaningful reform. The travelling public deserves a better effort to make certain any plane on which they fly has an alert and well rested flight crew."
Fatigue, sleep deprivation, and their effects on our safety in the air have been sufficiently documented. It is time for the FAA, the NTSB, and their partnered agencies across the globe to wake up and to follow the lead of New Zealand Air. Millions of lives are at stake. They should not need any more "smoking holes in the ground" to wake up from the sleep paralysis that's been plaguing them for years.
Retrieved from "http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/pilot-fatiguesleep-monitoring-program-largely-ignored-by-faantsb-2209186.html"
Monday, March 08, 2010
NTSB Chair Hersman Remarks on Fatigue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 5, 2010 Washington, DC – National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman today encouraged the sleep research and healthcare community to continue their efforts to educate transportation policy makers of the dangers of fatigue in all modes of transportation.
Speaking before the annual conference of the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C., Chairman Hersman remarked that fatigue has been a concern for the Board since the creation of the agency in 1967 and it has been an issue on the Board’s Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements since the list was established in 1990.
“The work of the National Sleep Foundation and other organizations and individuals is critical to improving transportation safety policy,” said Chairman Hersman. “The NTSB is interested and willing to partner with you in developing a greater awareness of fatigue.”
Hersman highlighted a number of accident investigations across all transportation modes that included fatigue as the probable cause or a contributing factor to accidents. As a result, the Board has made safety recommendations that range from deploying fatigue detection systems to reduce the occurrence of accidents to installing electronic on-board recorders that collect and maintain hours of service data on vehicle operators.
“We can’t always prove fatigue as a cause of an accident, but the frequency with which we now routinely document the presence of fatigue-related factors in transportation operations is alarming,” Hersman stated.
Hersman remarked that while there are still no definitive tools to conclusively identify the degree to which a person is fatigued, the major challenge is to ensure that all those in transportation report to work rested and fit for duty — for their own safety and for the safety of those they are transporting.
Speaking before the annual conference of the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C., Chairman Hersman remarked that fatigue has been a concern for the Board since the creation of the agency in 1967 and it has been an issue on the Board’s Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements since the list was established in 1990.
“The work of the National Sleep Foundation and other organizations and individuals is critical to improving transportation safety policy,” said Chairman Hersman. “The NTSB is interested and willing to partner with you in developing a greater awareness of fatigue.”
Hersman highlighted a number of accident investigations across all transportation modes that included fatigue as the probable cause or a contributing factor to accidents. As a result, the Board has made safety recommendations that range from deploying fatigue detection systems to reduce the occurrence of accidents to installing electronic on-board recorders that collect and maintain hours of service data on vehicle operators.
“We can’t always prove fatigue as a cause of an accident, but the frequency with which we now routinely document the presence of fatigue-related factors in transportation operations is alarming,” Hersman stated.
Hersman remarked that while there are still no definitive tools to conclusively identify the degree to which a person is fatigued, the major challenge is to ensure that all those in transportation report to work rested and fit for duty — for their own safety and for the safety of those they are transporting.
Kleen Energy Explosion
The following is a quote from the AP article:
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal agency investigating a power plant explosion in Connecticut that killed six workers last month says some workers were putting in long hours and it’s looking into whether fatigue played a role.
Authorities say the Feb. 7 explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown happened as workers were using natural gas to clean out gas lines.
The son of the one of workers who was killed has told The Associated Press his father was working long hours for months and an attorney for an injured worker said they were working seven days per week.
Some workers, including some of those involving in cleaning the gas lines, worked 12-hour shifts, said Donald Holmstrom, lead investigator for the Chemical Safety Board. He emphasized the board has not determined whether fatigue was a factor in the blast.
"There were some workers working long hours," Holmstrom told The Associated Press on Thursday. "We’re documenting their schedules. We’re examining that issue. It’s just not clear that there is any causal connection yet."
Holmstrom could not say how many workers were putting in long hours or for how long. He said investigators still need to talk to key workers.
Kleen Energy declined to comment. Telephone messages were left Friday with other companies involved in the project, including O&G Industries and Keystone Construction.
Erik Dobratz, whose father Ray Dobratz was killed in the blast, said last month his father had told him he was working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for six months.
"A lot of the guys on the job were doing this for six months, and they were exhausted," Dobratz said at the time. "They were all exhausted. To me that just seems a little ridiculous. Eighty-five hours a week — accidents happen, if you ask me."
Robert Reardon, an attorney for a worker injured in the blast, also has said workers were spending seven days a week on the project and were pressured to get the job done.
The Chemical Safety Board cited worker fatigue as a contributing factor in its report on a 2005 explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in Texas that killed 15 people and injured 170. Its report cited one key operator who put in 12-hour shifts for 29 consecutive days and said other workers were likely experiencing the effects of fatigue.
That report cited studies finding that people experiencing fatigue are typically more rigid in thinking and have greater difficulty responding to changing or abnormal circumstances and take longer to reason correctly. It raised specific concerns with 12-hour shifts, saying they negatively affect worker performance and can lead to higher accident rates.
The Connecticut blast, heard and felt for miles, occurred about an hour after some workers at the site complained of a heavy gas smell.
The board said last week that the purging process is "inherently unsafe," and should be curbed to prevent similar accidents. The 400,000 cubic feet of natural gas blown through the pipes was released into the air in tight quarters, creating an explosive mixture large enough to fill a professional basketball arena, Holmstrom said.
Exactly what sparked the blast has not been determined, though Holmstrom said there were "several" potential ignition sources nearby.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigates serious chemical accidents. State and local authorities are conducting a separate investigation into whether there was any criminal negligence.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal agency investigating a power plant explosion in Connecticut that killed six workers last month says some workers were putting in long hours and it’s looking into whether fatigue played a role.
Authorities say the Feb. 7 explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown happened as workers were using natural gas to clean out gas lines.
The son of the one of workers who was killed has told The Associated Press his father was working long hours for months and an attorney for an injured worker said they were working seven days per week.
Some workers, including some of those involving in cleaning the gas lines, worked 12-hour shifts, said Donald Holmstrom, lead investigator for the Chemical Safety Board. He emphasized the board has not determined whether fatigue was a factor in the blast.
"There were some workers working long hours," Holmstrom told The Associated Press on Thursday. "We’re documenting their schedules. We’re examining that issue. It’s just not clear that there is any causal connection yet."
Holmstrom could not say how many workers were putting in long hours or for how long. He said investigators still need to talk to key workers.
Kleen Energy declined to comment. Telephone messages were left Friday with other companies involved in the project, including O&G Industries and Keystone Construction.
Erik Dobratz, whose father Ray Dobratz was killed in the blast, said last month his father had told him he was working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for six months.
"A lot of the guys on the job were doing this for six months, and they were exhausted," Dobratz said at the time. "They were all exhausted. To me that just seems a little ridiculous. Eighty-five hours a week — accidents happen, if you ask me."
Robert Reardon, an attorney for a worker injured in the blast, also has said workers were spending seven days a week on the project and were pressured to get the job done.
The Chemical Safety Board cited worker fatigue as a contributing factor in its report on a 2005 explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in Texas that killed 15 people and injured 170. Its report cited one key operator who put in 12-hour shifts for 29 consecutive days and said other workers were likely experiencing the effects of fatigue.
That report cited studies finding that people experiencing fatigue are typically more rigid in thinking and have greater difficulty responding to changing or abnormal circumstances and take longer to reason correctly. It raised specific concerns with 12-hour shifts, saying they negatively affect worker performance and can lead to higher accident rates.
The Connecticut blast, heard and felt for miles, occurred about an hour after some workers at the site complained of a heavy gas smell.
The board said last week that the purging process is "inherently unsafe," and should be curbed to prevent similar accidents. The 400,000 cubic feet of natural gas blown through the pipes was released into the air in tight quarters, creating an explosive mixture large enough to fill a professional basketball arena, Holmstrom said.
Exactly what sparked the blast has not been determined, though Holmstrom said there were "several" potential ignition sources nearby.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigates serious chemical accidents. State and local authorities are conducting a separate investigation into whether there was any criminal negligence.
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