FLC BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD GONE OVER THE REQUIRED FLT DUTY TIME WHILE ENRTE TO THEIR LAST SCHEDULED STOP.

Date: 1995-03 · Aircraft: Commercial Fixed Wing

Anomalies: other-unspecified

Synopsis

FLC BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD GONE OVER THE REQUIRED FLT DUTY TIME WHILE ENRTE TO THEIR LAST SCHEDULED STOP.

Narrative

I CHKED THE FLT PLANS AND ADDED UP THE FLT TIMES AND THEY CAME TO 11 HRS. WELL UNDER 12. WE HAD A FUELING DELAY AND DEPARTED AT XA50 ABOUT 20 MINS LATE FOR SJU. WE BLOCKED OUT OF SJU FOR BDL ON TIME AND THE BALANCE OF THE FLT WENT WELL. I DID SEE THAT WE WERE FLYING LONGER LEGS THAN WHAT WE WERE PLANED FOR IN TIME; BUT ONLY BY A FEW MINS. EACH LEG HAD A NEW FLT NUMBER AND LOG PAGE BUT IT STILL SEEMED THAT WE COULD DO THE FLT IN UNDER 12 HRS. ON THE RETURN LEG OUT OF SJU WE HAD A 45 MIN TAXI DELAY DO TO HVY GND TFC AT SJU. BEFORE WE TOOK OFF I FELT THAT WE WOULD GO OVER 12 IN 24 BECAUSE OF THE TAXI DELAY BUT SENSE WE HAD BEEN SCHEDULED UNDER 12 IT WAS STILL OK TO COMPLETE THIS FLT. AFTER WE LEVELED OFF IN CRUISE I ASKED THE FE TO COMPUTE OUR BLOCK TIMES AND GIVE THEM TO ME. I WAS SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THAT WE WERE GOING TO BE ABOUT 1 HR 30 MINS OVER 12 IN 24. I RECHKED MY FLT PLANS AND THEY STILL CAME OUT TO 11 HRS. THE FE ALSO COMPUTED THE TIMES AND CAME UP WITH THE SAME FIGURES. I THEN TOOK A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ITINERARY AND SUBTRACTED THE OUT TIME FROM THE IN TIMES FOR ALL THERE LEGS AND TOTALED UP THEIR TIMES. IT CAME TO 13 HRS 30 MIN. 1 HR 30 MINS OVER 12 IN 24. IF I HAD DONE THIS BEFORE WE HAD LEFT MIA I WOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THIS FLT. I LET MYSELF BE RUSHED BY THE COMPANY'S AND I WAS NOT ALERT ENOUGH TO DOUBLE-CHK BOTH THE ITINERARY AND THE SCHEDULE. IF THE ITINERARY HAD BEEN MORE CLR AND SHOWN THE LEG TIMES AND A TOTAL BLOCK TIME I WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT WE COULD NOT TAKE THIS FLT. IF THE FLT PLANS OR SCHEDULE WOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS INTO AFFECT ALSO THE FLT WOULD HAVE BEEN SCHEDULED FOR A REST STOP AT BDL OR SJU. I HAVE SPOKEN TO A FEW OTHER PLTS AND THEY TELL ME THAT THIS DOES HAPPEN FROM TIME TO TIME AND TO ALWAYS TAKE A REAL CLOSE LOOK AT THE ITINERARY WHICH I DIDN'T DO ON THIS SERIES OF FLTS. I ALSO THINK THAT THE FAR'S SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO CHANGE FROM FLT TIME LIMITS ON INTL FLTS TO DUTY TIME LIMITS. THE IDEA OF NO DUTY TIME LIMIT UNDER 121 SUPPLEMENTAL INTL RULES NEEDS TO BE CHANGED. I WAS ON DUTY FROM XA00 TO XB15 UTC FOR A TOTAL DUTY TIME OF 21 HRS AND 15 MINS. IF THERE WAS A LIMIT ON DUTY TIME AND BETTER REST RULES MAYBE THAT WOULD HAVE HELPED TO PREVENT FLYING WHILE FATIGUED.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.