What happened
On June 14, 2015, an incident occurred at Warsaw Chopin Airport (EPWA) involving a Boeing 787-800. During the approach for landing, the flight crew requested permission to land on runway 15/33, which had been closed due to ongoing maintenance work. Upon receiving this request, the Airport Duty Officer halted the maintenance activities and inspected the runway to ensure it was safe for use before reopening it to traffic.
Following the landing, the crew explained that the request to use the closed runway was motivated by a desire to perform an automated landing to mitigate the effects of fatigue.
The investigation
The investigation examined the flight crew's schedule leading up to the event. It was established that the commander had participated in simulator training sessions during the nights of June 9–10 and June 10–11. Following these sessions, the commander departed a hotel at 12:00 local time and undertook an 11-hour journey home. The commander then performed scheduled flights during the nights of June 12–13 and June 13–14. Although a 15-hour rest period had been provided between flights, the investigation determined that the commander was suffering from cumulative fatigue.
Findings
- The primary cause of the incident was crew fatigue resulting from the commander performing work duties over several consecutive nights.
Safety action
- The Crew Control manager was instructed to review planned flight rotations.
- It was recommended that a single night of local rest be scheduled following simulator training sessions conducted during night hours.