Deadly fatigue: 75% of pilots say they fell asleep at the controls in the previous month

The ECA report said 'Airlines under the oversight of several countries — in particular Ireland, Malta, Spain, and the UK' are the worst performers on many aspects covered by its report. Picture: iStock

Irish pilots are more anxious than crews elsewhere in Europe about the risk of drifting off to sleep while in the cockpit, new survey data shows.

According to a report on pilot fatigue conducted by the European Cockpit Association (ECA), which surveyed nearly 7,000 pilots, three out of four pilots in Europe experienced at least one microsleep whilst operating an aircraft in the past month.

The survey found that a further quarter had five or more microsleeps, which is defined as falling asleep for at least a few seconds.

Asleep in the cockpit

For context, microsleeps are said to be responsible for more than 16% of road fatalities in the US every year.

Investigators found that pilot fatigue contributed to the Air France flight AF447 disaster in 2009 which claimed 228 lives. Picture: Eraldo Peres/AP

The pilot of the doomed Air France flight 447 in 2009, which killed 228 passengers and crew, was subsequently found to have insufficient sleep when the accident occurred, exacerbating the situation that ended with the plane crashing into the Atlantic en route to Paris from Rio.

The ECA survey also found 73% of pilots reported having insufficient rest to allow them to recover from fatigue between duties, while a mere 2% of pilots said fatigue risk at their respective airlines was very well managed.

Irish pilots criticise airline procedures 

Nearly 62% of Irish pilots said that fatigue risk was not well managed, while under 6% said their airlines communicated well with them when it came to fatigue.

Just a fifth of Irish pilots said that it was easy to access their fatigue reporting system, way below the European average of 44%.

While a quarter of European pilots said that reports are quick and easy to complete, fewer than 10% of their Irish counterparts said the same.

Less than 4% of Irish pilots said that submitting fatigue reports led to operational changes to improve safety, compared to 10% of the overall European-wide number.

Irish and Maltese pilots are the least trusting of the current system in Europe, while 80% of Irish, Maltese, Spanish, and British pilots are concerned about the implications of refusing to extend flying time beyond their official duty.

Daniel Langan, officer with the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association, told the Irish Examiner that the results were unsurprising.

“Short-haul pilots in particular are being pushed to the absolute limit,” he said. 

Some are flying six days in a row for 12 hours without so much as a break for lunch and are invariably shattered by the end of it. 

"Pilots have long sounded the alarm that the current systems are not working.”

Mr Langan said that flying should be treated the same as road haulage where lorry drivers are mandated to be fully rested after certain distances in a timeframe.

In contrast to US regulators which insist on three pilots in the cockpit for long-haul flights, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s rule is for just two.

Mr Langan said a third person would enhance safety.

“There is a squeeze on pilots that is just not sustainable in its present form,” he said.