Report: Pilots Fell Asleep During Approach To DIA

[on-ramp]

To all the pilots. Please stay awake up there , hundreds of lives are counting on you.
Could be my wife on that plane, someone's child, someone's family, or ME! I realize this is an isolated incident. But one too many.

Every flight has hundreds of lives at stake.



http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/14490568/detail.html#

DENVER -- A commercial pilot and his first officer fell asleep while approaching Denver International Airport in an A319 Airbus jet, going twice the speed as allowed, according to a federal safety Web site.

The incident, which occurred on March 4, 2004, was one of several incidents that was brought out during a congressional hearing on airline safety in Washington this week.

Rep. Bart Gordon , D-Tenn., wanted to know why this information was available on a public Web site where pilots anonymously report the incidents themselves, while NASA wasn't willing to release it as part of a larger survey.


NASA had initially refused to release its National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service survey, saying it could make the public unnecessarily afraid to fly.

In the report filed by the pilot, who was not identified, he said he was flying a red-eye, overnight flight from Denver to Baltimore, and after he landed at Baltimore, he sat on the ground for one hour before he flew back to Denver.

"No rest. Just straight seven hours and 55 minute-flight to Baltimore and back. On this particular day in March 2004, after two previous red-eyes, this being the third red-eye in a row, the last 45 minutes of the flight, I fell asleep and so did the first officer," the pilot wrote.

"Missed all the calls from Air Traffic Control to meet crossing restrictions (where pilots have to be at a certain altitude at a certain location) at the DANDD intersection (the intersection in the sky) in the southeast corridor to Denver. The crossing restriction to be at DANDD was to be at flight level 19,000 and 250 knots. Instead we crossed DANDD at 35,000 feet at Mach .82 (approximately 590 mph)," the pilot continued.

That means that the aircraft was speeding towards DIA's crowded airspace with no one awake at the wheel.

"I woke up, why I don't know, and heard frantic calls from Air Traffic Control approximately 5 nautical miles inside DANDD (about 5 miles past DANND)," the pilot said.

"I answered Air Traffic Control and abided by all instructions to get down. Woke first officer up, started down to flight level 22,000 feet as instructed ... Landed in Denver with no further incidents," the pilot wrote.

The pilot attributed the incident to "pilot fatigue and hopefully, (the) company is in process of changing these trip pairings."

The airline was not identified, but only United and Frontier fly Airbus A319s out of DIA.

A United spokeswoman said the airline had no report of such an incident and the airline did not have a "red eye" flight between Baltimore and Denver.

A Frontier spokesman said his airline did have a "red eye" flight between Baltimore and Denver but told the Rocky Mountain News that but the company could not find a report of the alleged incident on the date mentioned.

The report was filed in NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System, a public self-reporting site known as ASRA. The site is designed to improve flight safety by allowing anonymous reports to be made.

After the Washington hearing, NASA administrator Michael Griffin told lawmakers that he could release survey information by the end of the year, although certain identifying information would have to be deleted to prevent lawsuits.

[rick-l]

Do you still get some kind of immunity if you report an incident to NASAs safety organization?

[The Gaijin]

On the way to DIA??

It must have been during the World Series!!

badda - bummm.




Thank you Ladies and gentlemen - you have been great. Don't forget to treat your waitstaff well - they are all neat kids. 'night all.....

[450knotOffice]

Yes, the pilots get immunity from certificate action when they file these NASA reports (usually, there are exceptions). This allows NASA to build a safety database over time in order to help identify weak links in the operational safety chain. Without anonymous reporting, nobody would ever self-report any incidents or abnormalities that might be FAA violations and NASA would have a tough time trying to identify negative safety trends over time.

Fatigue IS an issue and most airlines know this. Some of the smaller and newer airlines have been known to schedule pilots for obviously unsafe trips, simply because from a technical standpoint they could - irrespective of the obvious fatigue that would result. Three Red-eye's in a row, with early morning arrivals and immediate turn-arounds back across the country is a recipe for an incident just like this.

[Tim Hancock]

I don't doubt most pilots fall asleep at times. Most probably awaken each time the ATC says something on the radio. Other than during take-off and landing rolls, commercial pilots rarely need to physically touch the controls for sometimes hours on end. Auto pilots do the flying. My guess is that the pilot turned his volume down. I would be much more afraid of a tour bus drvier falling asleep for an instant at the wheel and hitting oncoming traffic than I would about an airliner flying straight and level on autopilot at 35,000 feet for 15 minutes while the pilot dozed for a bit.

[Seahawk]

It happens...

I have fallen asleep in an aircraft once because of my own stupidity.

We were aboard an Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser undergoing weapons testing in Hawaii, on the Barking Sands range. We generally spent one night on the ship, one night at the Naval Base at Barking Sands. My girlfriend flew out and during one of the nights off the ship, we went large almost all night. I was a mess the next day, but had to post for the flight. This was old school Navy, you played hard but never missed a flight.

About an hour into the flight I logged out...my co-pilot decided that it was better to let me sleep since he was prepared for the flight and it was a total, range clearing milk run. I have never been more embarrassed...I slept for two hours!

Most accidents are caused by the same irresponsibility I showed. I never did it again.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

It happens...

I have fallen asleep in an aircraft once because of my own stupidity.

We were aboard an Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser undergoing weapons testing in Hawaii, on the Barking Sands range. We generally spent one night on the ship, one night at the Naval Base at Barking Sands. My girlfriend flew out and during one of the nights off the ship, we went large almost all night. I was a mess the next day, but had to post for the flight. This was old school Navy, you played hard but never missed a flight.

About an hour into the flight I logged out...my co-pilot decided that it was better to let me sleep since he was prepared for the flight and it was a total, range clearing milk run. I have never been more embarrassed...I slept for two hours!

Most accidents are caused by the same irresponsibility I showed. I never did it again.

What a guy! Nice of him to let you have your nap.

[Joeaksa]

Happened to me tonight, but it was planned. Was bushed after our 9th day of non-stop flying and getting into the hootch at 2-4 am. Heading across the Straits of Hormutz I was bushed and told the copilot that the ship was his and I was taking 15 minutes nap.

Its well known in the industry that if you get tired, the other guy has the airplane and you grab a quick cat nap. Its better than falling asleep at the stick like the guys above. Glad they made it ok but with the way the airlines push pilots, its going to happen again.

[TechnoViking]

All I know is that if I fell asleep at work, my ass would be fired on the spot. And nobody's life is in danger if I doze off.

Yea, I know you pilots have rough work hours. Join the club.

I can imagine telling my boss "it happens". What a f'ing joke.

[450knotOffice]

Martin, you don't know squat about this well researched and documented issue. People aren't choosing to fall asleep, they just are (other than the planned naps - one pilot at a time, which is OK when the situation warrants it, even if you don't think so). Pilot fatigue is real and it's causes are well documented. Crossing multiple time zones, operating on the "back" side of the clock when one's circadian rhythm is not adjusted to those hours, continuous pervasive single tone "white" noise for hours on end (the sound of the air stream rushing past the cockpit creates this and is typically much louder than in the cabin), darkness, lack of stimuli (believe it or not, the cruise workload for hours on end is basically very, very low - simple monitoring is about it), and working multiple back-side-of-the-clock 12 hours shifts while trying to force yourself to sleep during the day when your body is not adapted to it. All of these and many others cause this phenomenon to occur. And I'll say it again, when it happens to these guys, it's unintended - the brain just decides to "check out" and falls asleep.

There is no comparison to most jobs (your included, I am sure). The factors involved are on a completely different level.

[on-ramp]

pilots have a great responsibility, after all , the lives of everyone on board are in their hands. Shouldn't 2 pilots be awake at all times? isn't this required?
what if something happens to the awake pilot while the other one asleep?

Pilots are human too, and they get tired, but the flying public wouldn't be too happy knowing that a pilot was sleeping up at the controls....

However, that being said, better a pilot take a nap at 40K ft while the plane was on auto , than sleeping during landing sequence

[450knotOffice]

It is required, yes. However, sometimes the body simply won't comply with regs. This is why so much research has been done over the years concerning this very issue. The industry - companies, pilots, the FAA, scientists - all want to know how and why this is happening and how best to prevent it.

Now, all of that being said, this is a very rare phenomena. For me and most of my brethren, this has never happened. But I can tell you that in broad daylight, with plenty of sleep the night before, I have had to FIGHT myself from falling asleep with all the willpower I could muster.

On a side note, this event desribed did not happen during the "approach". Far from it. This happened during what we call the initial descent, which will typically have a workload higher than simple cruise, but has far, far less workload and potential danger than the real approach phase. Personally, I can't imagine anyone falling asleep during that period. There's just too much going on and that, in and of itself, tends to snap a pilot out of his tired state (almost always, anyway. There was DC-8 cargo jet crash years ago while on a early morning approach into a Cuban airport [I think] that was attributed to the flying pilot literally falling asleep at the controls - I think the crew lived).

[red-beard]

Pilot comes on the overhead and goes through his normal patter:

"We've reached our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. It looks like a perfect day out there. Relax, sit back and we'll have you in New York in 2 hours."

There is a click, but the sound from the overhead continues.

"Ya know Joe, I could really go for a cup of coffee and a blow-job."

A Stewardess runs at top speed toward the cockpit. One of the passengers muses: "Miss, miss. I think you forgot the coffee!"

I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip the waitresses. You sir, what's your name?...

[Tobra]

yeah baby, funny red

this is a problem with any job that has a big dose of monotony, long haul trucker, ER doctor at 0400(hopefully) the impact of sleep deprivation and disturbances in timing of photoperiod(changing time zones) is pretty extensively documented. Imagine the guy in the nuclear missile silo in North Dakota(actually that job was eliminated I believe)

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Martin Smith

All I know is that if I fell asleep at work, my ass would be fired on the spot. And nobody's life is in danger if I doze off.

Yea, I know you pilots have rough work hours. Join the club.

I can imagine telling my boss "it happens". What a f'ing joke.

And your ass should probably be fired.

Next time you ride your desk down an approach to a runway in 1/2 mile vis and 200 foot overcast, with freezing fog near the ground and ice covering your wings and belly of the plane from flying into the airport area in heavy storms, pls let us know.

I did the above approach into Vukuno airport in Moscow 4 hours ago. Oh yea, forgot to mention the 22 knot crosswind and ice and snow on the runway once we got the ship on the ground. How good is your Russian while talking to air traffic controllers BTW?

99% of the time we sit in the cockpit its plain jane boring, then with moments like we had yesterday at 2 am while shooting an approach into a military base in Kazakhstan. The autopilot malfunctioned and went from a 3 degree downwards glide towards the runway to pulling the nose up 14 degrees into the air, in the space of 1.5 seconds. This was also solid IFR, in the clouds and ice, 1000 feet above the ground and in the mountains. How is that desk sounding now bucko?

Its been widely researched around the world that the flight crews taking "cat naps" from time to time makes the flight safer. Would you prefer the flight crews being rested while doing an approach to the airport or drowsy from no sleep and been up in the air for 10 hours and dog tired?

Suggest that you do some research from your nice cozy desk on the subject, or possibly take the train next time you wish to travel. Maybe you will learn something...

[rattlsnak]

Falling asleep is not the issue here. It's waking up and noticing the other pilot is sleeping thats an issue.

But anyway, I used to fly Naps, or CDOs (continous duty overnights) for a long time at the airlines, and we routinely set 'turns' as to who was going to cat nap and when. A typical CDO schedule was duty in at 10:30pm, depart at at 11:30pm, (which NEVER happened, because we were ALWAYS late), fly 2-3 hours, get 5:30 hours on the ground, which starts when the plane hits the chocks and includes, walking out front, calling the hotel van because it was never there, checking in to the hotel, going to your room, 'sleeping' for 2-3 hours, riding back to the airport, security, getting the plane ready, boarding and then taking off, sometimes in NASTY weather conditions, etc. Yes this is no different than working a nite shift, but the problem is that it would be this way for a few days, then back to 12 hour day trips then back to CDOs, then early morning shows, etc. Oh, and while I was doing the majority of CDOs, when I landed, I had to go straight to work at my other job so I can pay the bills, go home at 6pm, eat dinner, say hi to my family, then out the door again at 9pm to get to the airport.

You have NO IDEA what flight crews go through unless you've been here.

[cool_chick]

Originally Posted by Martin Smith

All I know is that if I fell asleep at work, my ass would be fired on the spot. And nobody's life is in danger if I doze off.

Yea, I know you pilots have rough work hours. Join the club.

I can imagine telling my boss "it happens". What a f'ing joke.

For me, working a 10 hour day at work and travelling for work for 10 hours is very different. The travelling for work is wayyyyy more exhausting. These guys are in a constant state of "travel." So to compare the "rough hours" as if it's the same isn't fair. Should they both fall asleep at the same time, no. Is it right, no. But their job is much more fatiguing due to the constant state of "travel" they're in and to compare it to being in the office isn't cool.

[livi]

Pilots are still human like (most) of the rest of us. I can fully appreciate a tough shift on weird hours. I have fallen asleep several times in the delivery room when we are waiting for a reportedly ill baby to be born. Abruptely awaken at 4.30 am after 12-15 hours work to stand ready in the delivery room. Sometimes it takes 15-20 minutes before the obstetrician manage to get the baby out. I am brutally awaken by either the baby instantly crying his airways full of life saving air - in which case I can stumble back to bed - or by my neonatal nurses elbowing me into action with a lifeless baby.

Starting out 15 years ago, I would not imagined one could be able to fall asleep during such circumstances. Now I know better and I can fully appreciate the pilots situation for it.

[Flatbutt1]

Just curious, what flight qualification does the in flight engineer have? In the unlikely case both pilots are incapacitated, could the engineer take over?

[DARISC]

It seems that pilot's schedules are at the root of the problem. Since the pilots have no say in determining their schedules then those who do are at fault, no?

I'd guess that saving money lies at the base of the problem since it would be very expensive to provide fresh pilots for every flight, which would result in higher airfares, which would be protested by the flying public, who get outraged and complain loudly when they hear of this sort of thing happening.

Pilots, is this an accurate take?