Analysis of Navy Flight Scheduling Methods Using FlyAwake
Abstract
Sleep-related fatigue has negative effects on both human performance and decision making. Pilots are particularly vulnerable to these adverse effects due to the environment and operational requirements, which entails both long and irregular duty cycles. The Air National Guard received funding from Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Safety Oversight Council to create FlyAwake, a software application that predicts aircrew fatigue based on circadian cycles. FlyAwake uses the Sleep, Activity, Fatigue, and Task Effectiveness (SAFTE) Model and calculates predicted effectiveness. Recently, contract modifications have permitted integration with U.S. Navy's Sierra Hotel Aviation Readiness Program (SHARP) as an Operational Risk Management (ORM) tool. Naval Aviation does not currently use fatigue modeling as part of operational flight scheduling, and it is the intent of this thesis to provide a proof of concept analysis of FlyAwake for Commander, Navy Air Forces (CNAF). In order to validate FlyAwake, flight schedules from February 2008 were collected from the Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Light Four Two (HSL-42) SHARP database. A statistical analysis compared fatigue levels of aircrew using conventional scheduling methods against those with fatigue modeling, and showed improved fatigue-based performance effectiveness with the utilization of FlyAwake.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA508920
Entities
People
- Ryan P. Beshany
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School