PhilDernerJr
2007-10-31, 09:03 PM
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307019,00.html
A commercial pilot had recently switched schedules to flying three "red eyes" in a row between Denver and Baltimore with only one hour in between flights. On March 4, 2004, during the third late-night flight, the pilot and his first officer were approaching Denver in an A319 Airbus jet — about the size of a Boeing 737 — and they were fast asleep.
"LAST 45 MINS OF FLT I FELL ASLEEP AND SO DID THE FO," or first officer, a one-paragraph report in a NASA-run public reporting system says.
"MISSED ALL CALLS FROM ATC (air-traffic controller)," the report continues, saying that the plane was supposed to be traveling at less than 290 mph, but they were moving at a clip of about 590 mph.
"I WOKE UP, WHY I DON'T KNOW, AND HEARD FRANTIC CALLS FROM ATC. ... I ANSWERED ATC AND ABIDED BY ALL INSTRUCTIONS TO GET DOWN. WOKE FO UP," the report says, adding that he then followed all the controller's instructions, "AND LANDED WITH NO FURTHER INCIDENTS."
"HOPEFULLY COMPANY IS IN PROCESS OF CHANGING THESE TRIP PAIRINGS," the pilot said in the report, which is posted on NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System.
I first read it and I was thinking about how stupid the pilots are. Then you read the details and it puts the blame on the airline.
Although, I thought that the programs used by airlines to schedule crews for flights didn't even allow a pilot to fly what is obviously a violation of duty time. Am I mistaken?
A commercial pilot had recently switched schedules to flying three "red eyes" in a row between Denver and Baltimore with only one hour in between flights. On March 4, 2004, during the third late-night flight, the pilot and his first officer were approaching Denver in an A319 Airbus jet — about the size of a Boeing 737 — and they were fast asleep.
"LAST 45 MINS OF FLT I FELL ASLEEP AND SO DID THE FO," or first officer, a one-paragraph report in a NASA-run public reporting system says.
"MISSED ALL CALLS FROM ATC (air-traffic controller)," the report continues, saying that the plane was supposed to be traveling at less than 290 mph, but they were moving at a clip of about 590 mph.
"I WOKE UP, WHY I DON'T KNOW, AND HEARD FRANTIC CALLS FROM ATC. ... I ANSWERED ATC AND ABIDED BY ALL INSTRUCTIONS TO GET DOWN. WOKE FO UP," the report says, adding that he then followed all the controller's instructions, "AND LANDED WITH NO FURTHER INCIDENTS."
"HOPEFULLY COMPANY IS IN PROCESS OF CHANGING THESE TRIP PAIRINGS," the pilot said in the report, which is posted on NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System.
I first read it and I was thinking about how stupid the pilots are. Then you read the details and it puts the blame on the airline.
Although, I thought that the programs used by airlines to schedule crews for flights didn't even allow a pilot to fly what is obviously a violation of duty time. Am I mistaken?