In‐flight sleep, pilot fatigue and P sychomotor V igilance T ask performance on ultra‐long range versus long range flights
Open accessAbstract
This study evaluated whether pilot fatigue was greater on ultra-long range (ULR) trips (flights >16 h on 10% of trips in a 90-day period) than on long range (LR) trips. The within-subjects design controlled for crew complement, pattern of in-flight breaks, flight direction and departure time. Thirty male Captains (mean age = 54.5 years) and 40 male First officers (mean age = 48.0 years) were monitored on commercial passenger flights (Boeing 777 aircraft). Sleep was monitored (actigraphy, duty/sleep diaries) from 3 days before the first study trip to 3 days after the second study trip. Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, Samn-Perelli fatigue ratings and a 5-min Psychomotor Vigilance Task were completed before, during and after every flight. Total sleep in the 24 h before outbound flights and before inbound flights after 2-day layovers was comparable for ULR and LR flights. All pilots slept on all flights. For each additional hour of flight time, they obtained an estimated additional 12.3 min of sleep. Estimated mean total sleep was longer on ULR flights (3 h 53 min) than LR flights (3 h 15 min; P(F) = 0.0004). Sleepiness ratings were lower and mean reaction speed was faster at the end of ULR flights. Findings suggest that additional in-flight sleep mitigated fatigue effectively on longer flights. Further research is needed to clarify the contributions to fatigue of in-flight sleep versus time awake at top of descent. The study design was limited to eastward outbound flights with two Captains and two First Officers. Caution must be exercised when extrapolating to different operations.
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Sleep disorders screening in addition to circadian approaches and scheduled napping has shown effectiveness in improving safety.
“To address these concerns, sleep disorders screening in addition to circadian approaches and scheduled napping have shown effectiveness in improving safety.189–197”
From Sleep, Health, and Society (2017) · cites this paper as [192]
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- Authors
- Gander, P. H., Signal, T. L., van den Berg, M. J., Mulrine, H. M., Jay, S. M., & Jim Mangie, C.
- Affiliations
- Massey University (NZ)
- Sleep/Wake Research Centre Massey University Wellington New Zealand
- Central Queensland University (AU)
- Delta Air Lines Atlanta GA USA
- Corresponding author
- Gander, Philippa H.
- Venue
- Journal of Sleep Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-07-24
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 697-706
- ISSN
- 0962-1105 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2869
- OpenAlex
- W2091358722
- Cited by
- 73
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 5.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.cqu.edu.au
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Sleep Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Acquire (CQUniversity) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Delta Air Lines
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Human-Automation Interaction and Safety
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
- Keywords
- pilot fatigue, long-range flight, psychomotor vigilance task, sleep duration, sleepiness, reaction time, commercial aviation, aircrew, actigraphy, Karolinska Sleepiness Scale
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Fatigue, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Monitoring, Physiologic, Psychomotor Performance, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Stages, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors, Wakefulness, Work Schedule Tolerance, Air Travel
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