A DHC8-400 Flight Attendant crew called in fatigued after four legs on the final day of a four day trip sequence which ended with two very long days and no breaks.
Synopsis
A DHC8-400 Flight Attendant crew called in fatigued after four legs on the final day of a four day trip sequence which ended with two very long days and no breaks.
Narrative
During the flight I became aware that I was fatigued and not performing my job with the awareness necessary to be considered safety-minded. During the last leg I found I was beyond tired and feeling dizzy during service; forgetting routine things such as making a forward galley list and forgetting drink orders as soon as they were told to me. Events leading up to fatigue: The previous day; we worked 11:41 of duty; as scheduled. The show time that day was very early; which meant an early van and an even earlier one hour prior wake-up. As is typical on extremely early shows; I slept a total of about four hours that night. In general; this is not usually a problem for me. The rest on this night was 13:44; and we began our last day at about sunrise with a triangle of three legs; so a total of about six hours with passengers aboard the entire time. Other than the short midday leg where the load was about 48; we were full all day. After a six minute break off the plane to use a real restroom following the triangle flights; we resumed our day with a full load to our home base. We were scheduled to do an additional turn after completing 8:30 of duty already; and I felt it would be dangerous to continue the day given my level of fatigue. The total duty time would have been 11:59; and the total block time for the Captain; the only crew member to complete that day; was 8:11. As it stands I completed 8:15 of duty and 5:45 of block before calling in fatigued. In summary; the scheduling of two very long days with relatively short rest between led to my fatigue and the inability to complete the second long day in a row. Decided during the flight it would be unsafe for me to continue my regularly scheduled duty day. Extremely long duty days ought not to be scheduled back-to-back; even with 'adequate' rest scheduled between.
Second reporter narrative
It was day four of a four day trip and an 11:59 hour duty day. During boarding and throughout the flight I was just feeling tired and exhausted. Couldn't focus on what I was saying in announcements. We had an 11:35 HR duty day the day before. On this day four; the first three legs were through flights and when we got to our initial departure airport we had all of five minutes to run into the terminal for a break. I didn't get a good night sleep due to temperature in room. The air conditioner wasn't working right. My room was second floor next to a busy street. Decided during the fourth leg that I was fatigued and it would be hard for me to focus and perform my job for the last two legs. I called in fatigued at our home base after all the passengers deplaned. The way the trip was scheduled was with two long days in a row and no breaks the last day. Lack of good sleep was due to situations at the hotel; not being able to control the room temperature and having a room next to a busy street.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.