A New Baseline for Chronic Fatigue: Why Measuring Flight Time Is the Wrong Approach
Abstract
The Air Force recognizes the effects of high operational tempos on aircrew and currently limits workload by a quarterly maximum flight time period (FTP) requirement, not maximum flight duty period (FDP). Long FDP/Long FTP crews, like those flying the surveillance and refueling missions, are adequately protected from chronic fatigue because their work period and flight hours are both coincident. Long FDP/Short FTP crews, like those flying inter-theatre airlift are not properly protected and have to create ad-hoc programs at the squadron level, through the manipulation of the Operational Risk Management (ORM) process. The current measurement creates an imbalance in maximum quarterly workload of long FDP/long FTP aircrew when compared to long FDP/short FTP aircrew. Admittedly, adding new restrictions could require the USAF to increase the amount of airlift crews. However, costs associated with this increase could be offset by preventing catastrophic losses like the gear up C-17 landing in 2008 ($19 million in damages) and the C-17 long landing crash in 2010 ($78 million in damages), accidents in which pilot error was found to be either causal or contributory.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA579215
Entities
People
- John C. Mcclelland
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College