Is your pilot asleep at the wheel?
A television station that talked to regional airline pilots say they “confessed that they frequently fly on so little rest, they literally fall asleep at the controls.”
TV station WFAA in Dallas reported that federal regulations require pilots to get nine hours of rest every 24-hour period.
But the station said airlines sometimes figure that allotted time begins as soon as the pilot lands at the airport, which may mean travel time cuts into required rest periods.
One unnamed pilot said: “You might only get three hours of sleep.”
The pilot said he and a co-pilot recently fell asleep during their climb to cruise altitude and only woke up when an air traffic controller called them.
“Oh, my gosh, we’re already up here,” the pilot said.
Pilots are told they should notify their airline if they are too tired to fly.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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