2009-10 · NASA ASRS report 858063
A CRJ First Officer experienced moments of 'zoning out' from which he had to be aroused by the Captain. Fatigue due to unhealthy air in layover hotels is cited as a contributing factor.
During this trip there were several instances in which I was quiet and introspective; and subconsciously put my head down with my eyes closed. During these times I was alert and responsive; answering the radios and interacting with crew except for one time on day one in which I became lost in thought and the Captain touched my arm to get my attention. On the third night I experienced trouble sleeping in the room provided because of strong odors of carpet deodorizer; and reported for duty with very little sleep. During the operational day I had great difficulty staying awake and focused; and on retrospect should have called in fatigued. I attempted to press through the day rather than use a fatigued call; and although no operational complications arose I should not have done so.This trip was constructed in a way which placed a normal pilot in sleep debt and outside his circadian rhythm: with reports at 1 PM; 4 PM; and 3:15 PM on days 1 through 3 followed by a report at 6 AM on day 4. Even with proper rest this is a hard trip to finish. Better pairing construction would prevent this issue. The corporate policies at many of our hotels require housekeepers to spray carpet deodorizer every day when cleaning; and this chemical odor builds up over time gradually affecting those sensitive to such smells. The Doctor I consulted with when researching this issue at the union medical office agreed that one sniff of that deodorizer causes him to begin to get congested. This issue should be addressed by union and company hotels staff. Ultimately; the person responsible for ensuring that I am properly rested at work is myself; and I should have called in fatigued when I realized how tired I was at the beginning of day 4 rather than try to finish the trip. In this instance; my own personal judgment was in error. Our present corporate policies are a mixed bag: I have used fatigue calls in the past without any negative consequence from the company and found the environment supportive of that judgment. However; pilots who call in fatigued; unlike those of us who use sick calls; forfeit pay for the time we are out. A change in this policy would make pilots much less reluctant to admit weakness in this area. Finally; the effects of fatigue and alcohol are consistently shown to be similar on human performance. With alcohol; one of the first effects is that judgment is impaired. Widespread training and awareness of this fact; and treatment of fatigue and alcohol in similar manners; would be greatly beneficial to the pilot community. Another person; not the person affected; may in fact be a better judge of the tired crewmember's mindset and focus than he is himself. We ought to inform and encourage our pilot community to step forward and exert peer pressure to send tired co-workers home. As stated earlier; the primary prevention; and the one I should have used; is personal initiative to call in fatigued when my rest is interrupted and I feel tired prior to reporting for duty.
My First Officer has a habit of 'zoning out' I noticed this the first day of our trip but since he responded to radio calls; and seemed alert other than not scanning the instruments and environment I did not react to the position he would take for a few moments. I think I saw this once on leg one or two of day one. During this 'zoning out' he closes his eyes and puts his chin on his chest. Obviously the first time I thought he was resting or maybe even sleeping. As soon as I saw him in this position I asked him 'Are you okay?' He opened his eyes; put his head up and said 'Yes'. As I looked at him then he did not look tired or unaware but immediately returned to his duties. On the last leg of day one he was the flying pilot. ATC gave us a shortcut and I read it back. After putting it into the FMS I waited for his common 'It looks good' or similar to execute the flight plan change but no response came. I then looked over to find him in his 'zoned out' position. I verbally asked if 'it looks good to him' with no response. I then reached over and touched the sleeve of his shirt and he immediately came to and said 'I'm sorry; did I miss something?' During day two and three I observed him in this 'zoned out' position a few more times but only for short intervals and I think two or three missed radio calls; no more than usual and he recovered promptly as I read it back or ATC called again ... This First Officer is a good airman and as standard as they come. I hope he can get this medical or psychological issue worked out and come out and fly with me again!
More incidents for this aircraft family
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.