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.