AN ACR PLT CONTENDS THAT LEGAL; BUT OPPRESSIVE FLT CREW SCHEDULING PROCS WITH DISREGARD OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHM ARE CAUSING CONDITIONS THAT ARE UNSAFE AND HAVE LED TO FATIGUE RELATED ILLNESS AND INCAPACITATION.

Date: 2003-09 · Aircraft: B777-200 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|other-acr-scheduling

Synopsis

AN ACR PLT CONTENDS THAT LEGAL; BUT OPPRESSIVE FLT CREW SCHEDULING PROCS WITH DISREGARD OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHM ARE CAUSING CONDITIONS THAT ARE UNSAFE AND HAVE LED TO FATIGUE RELATED ILLNESS AND INCAPACITATION.

Narrative

I WILL NOT PASSIVELY; SELFISHLY; MINDLESSLY PARTAKE IN THE CARELESS AND RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT OF HUMAN LIVES THROUGH MY PARTICIPATION IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION AS A RESULT OF HAZARDOUS SCHEDULING PROCESSES DESIGNED TO INSURE THE FINANCIAL SUCCESS OF THE COMPANY. AS A RESULT OF BEING SCHEDULED AT A BODY-USE RATE OF OVER 100 HRS A MONTH FROM AUG/WED/03 THROUGH SEP/THU/03 (87 HRS IN 23 DAYS); I AM CURRENTLY VERY ILL. MY PSYCHOLOGICAL CLOCK IS AWRY. I WAS SCHEDULED 6 EAST COAST TO EUROPE TRIPS IN 23 DAYS WITH A 2-MAN COCKPIT CREW WITHOUT ANY REGARD TO CIRCADIAN RHYTHM OR MORALE CONCERNS. I CALLED THE CREW DESK AT XA00 ON MY LAST EUROPEAN LAYOVER THE NIGHT OF SEP/WED/03; IN HOPES OF BEING CANCELLED FOR MY FLT HOME ON SEP/THU/03; BECAUSE OF THE NAUSEA/VOMITING AND DIARRHEA I HAD EXPERIENCED THE DAY BEFORE FROM IMBALANCE CIRCADIAN RHYTHM. I WAS NOT CANCELLED. THERE WERE NUMEROUS FLT CANCELLATIONS DUE TO HURRICANE. MY FLT WAS NOT ONE OF THEM. I DEBATED WHETHER TO CALL IN SICK ON THE PHONE; BUT SINCE HURRICANE WAS SCHEDULED TO HIT THE NEXT DAY; I DECIDED TO WAIT UNTIL CLOSER TO DEP TIME BEFORE MAKING THE DECISION TO CALL IN SICK. I LAID AWAKE THE REMAINDER OF THE MORNING UNTIL MY WAKE-UP CALL. I FELT REASONABLY WELL AND DECIDED THAT I WAS SAFE TO FLY MY TRIP; EUROPE TO EAST COAST. IN RETROSPECT; IT WAS AN INADVERTENT ERROR IN JUDGEMENT ON MY PART. I WAS NOT FOCUSED. I FELT MY JUDGEMENT WAS IMPAIRED. I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. WHEN I GOT HOME; MY IMBALANCE DIGESTIVE SYS/INSOMNIA PERSISTED. I AM ON SICK LIST. I WAS A CREW SCHEDULER YRS AGO. I PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED SIMILAR ILLNESSES AS A RESULT OF IGNORANCE OF CIRCADIAN RHYTHM AS A P-3 PLT; AND CONSEQUENTLY; WOULD BE MOST CAUTIOUS IN MY SCHEDULING OF CREW MEMBERS TO AVOID THE DISASTROUS EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND INSOMNIA. PERHAPS A MGMNT PERSON SHOULD BE SIMILARLY SCHEDULED TO FLY A PATTERN AS I JUST ENDURED TO REALIZE FIRST-HAND THE HORRIBLE RESULTANT PHYSICAL EFFECTS AND HAZARDS TO COMMERCIAL AVIATION CREATED BY SUCH NASTY SCHEDULING PROCESSES.

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