British study: Half of pilots fall asleep while flying

More than half of pilots have fallen asleep on the job, and eight in 10 say their flying abilities have been weakened by fatigue in the last six months, according to a new survey conducted by the British Airline Pilots’ Association.

The survey report, which was released this week – days before the European Union is set to vote on new rules that would increase the number of hours pilots are allowed to work without a break – sheds more light on the ongoing battle against pilot fatigue. While the survey focused on British pilots, some in the industry believe its lessons apply to all of aviation, including in the United States.

“Fatigue is a huge problem in aviation and it’s one we’ve been working on forever,” said Russ Leighton, a cargo pilot and  the director of safety for the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, which represents 25,000 pilots in the U.S. “We definitely have some very strange schedules, and every company wants to get as much productivity out of its workers as possible ... But there’s a balance that has to be struck between productivity and safety.”

The conundrum of keeping pilots awake while maintaining an efficient aviation system  is nothing new, but according to Leighton, as airlines try to squeeze more profit out of every dollar the need to address fatigue has become more pressing.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration tightened safety rules in 2011 in response to a passenger airline crash in 2009 that killed 50 people near Buffalo, New York. The new rules increased the number of required hours of rest between flight periods for pilots from eight to 10. But the FAA’s rules won’t take effect until 2014. And the FAA exempted commercial pilots, saying that the economic costs of tightened safety standards would outweigh the benefits.

British pilots are allowed to fly without rest for slightly longer than pilots operating for U.S. airlines, and new British and European Union rules would lengthen that time. But the British association that commissioned the study says these new rules would stretch already-tired pilots to the breaking point.

Almost half of all pilots surveyed said tiredness was the biggest threat to flight safety.  Out of the 50 percent who admitted to falling asleep while in flight, one in three said they had woken up to find their co-pilot asleep.

Leighton said he’s not surprised by the results. While he thinks the current regulations in the U.S. and the EU do not pose an immediate threat to passenger safety, he said fatigue needs to be addressed in a serious, comprehensive manner, and soon.

“There’s a systemic safety hazard,” he said. “But the industry would rather not have to change anything. It’s a constant battle.”

Wire services