66% of Indian Pilots Fall Asleep While Flying
A shocking study has found that a majority of pilots working in Indian airline firms have been suffering from "daytime sleepiness".
A shocking study has found that a majority of pilots working in Indian airline firms have been suffering from daytime sleepiness. Of the 542 Indian pilots surveyed, 358, which means a total of 66 % of the respondents, have admitted sleeping off in the pilot's seat without “planning” meaning without the consent of the other cockpit crew member. The reason: mostly due to extreme fatigue. The survey was conducted by the non-profit organization Safety Matters Foundation.
Moreover, according to the study, fatigue is one of the main reasons attributed to airplane accidents and the fact that pilots are not coping well with the pressure that comes with their jobs. With companies looking to work with less than adequate workforces, timings have gone up for most pilots. While earlier, pilots had to fly 30 hours a week, now, they have to fly back-to-back once every week. That has resulted in added stress on the workforce, resulting in more fatigue. The most common causes of falling asleep in the cockpit were overwork and having to fly back-to-back morning flights, which required getting up as early as 2am. Notably, the DGCA has not implemented Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) mandatorily and there are no rules drafted to manage fatigue. There has been a scarcity of pilots in India, where airlines require up to 1,500 new pilots annually. However, only 200 to 300 of these new hires have the appropriate training. According to a statistical review of commercial airplane accidents worldwide, maximum accidents and onboard fatalities occur during the final approach and landing.
