Pros and cons of strategic napping on long haul flights. AGARD-CP-599

• Main Authors: P. J. L. Valk, M. Simons
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.573.2487; http://ftp.rta.nato.int/public/PubFulltext/AGARD/CP/AGARD-CP-599/10SE2-05.pdf

Long haul operations involve rapid multiple time zone changes and long, irregular work schedules. These fac-tors can result in sleep loss, circadian disruption, and fatigue with consequent effects on pilot’s performance and alertness. A controlled nap in the cockpit is consid-ered to be a useful countermeasure to inflight fatigue. Therefore, a study was conducted on the effects of a 40-minutes controlled rest period on the flight deck on crew performance and alertness. The alertness of the desig-nated waking pilot, who has to remain alert while his colleague is resting, was explicitly assessed. Data was collected of 59 pilots, flying North-Atlantic B747-300 trips as scheduled in their regular duty roster. Pilots were equipped with a palmtop computer and an actigraph for objective and subjective assessment of quantity and quality of cockpit naps, alertness, and performance on a vigilance dual-task. During flights, measurements were performed before and aRer the rest period and before top of descent. It was found that a cockpit rest period im-proved alertness and performance of the rested pilots up to top of descent. Sleep during the rest period provided more improvement than rest alone. A number of desig-nated waking pilots had difficulties in maintaining a suf-ficient level of alertness during the rest period of their colleague pilot. It is recommended to implement the use of preplanned controlled rest periods on the flight deck as a preventive fatigue countermeasure in 2- and 3-per-son flight deck operations. Measures to safeguard the alertness of designated waking pilots and guidelines to secure flight safety are discussed.