Causes and Effects of Fatigue in Experienced Military Aircrew

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Causes and Effects of Fatigue in Experienced Military Aircrew

J. C. Miller / M. L. Melfi

The purpose of this investigation was to determine what aircrews perceived about fatigue countermeasures, whether they had been fatigued in flight, what might have caused fatigue in the cockpit, and whether they would have benefited from medication during crew rest and while airborne to counteract the effects of fatigue. Data were collected with self-report survey, eliciting responses from 162 pilots and navigators with experience in fighter, airlift, tanker, helicopter and bomber aircraft types. A high proportion of the respondents had logged more than 3,000 military flight hours. The pattern of responses indicated that: Episodes of unintentional sleep may be common in cockpits throughout the USAF; Episodes of fatigue-induced performance degradation may be common in cockpits throughout the USAF; Degraded situational awareness and slowed reaction time due to fatigue had been experienced while flying; Disruption of the circadian rhythm was the greatest contributor to losing sleep and becoming fatigued; Improper mission scheduling may be the main cause for in-flight fatigue; Poor sleeping quarters contribute to in-flight fatigue; The aircrews had received sufficient training and education on the different countermeasures that combat fatigue, but still reported personal experiences of fatigue in the cockpit; There were overall biases against the use of Go and No-Go pills, but biases in favor of using them among those who had actually used them as fatigue countermeasures for missions.