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Abstract. Fatigue is a frequent phenomenon for pilots doing shift work and working in changing time zones. Napping or increased cockpit lighting, so-called in-flight countermeasures, may help pilots mitigate the symptoms of acute fatigue. This study investigated the impact of napping on sleep quality and the effect of in-flight countermeasures on how often pilots notice fatigue symptoms when feeling tired. In total, 106 German-speaking pilots participated in an online survey. The results showed a medium correlation between napping and improved sleep quality (r = .32) and a low-to-medium correlation between a frequent usage of in-flight countermeasures and less acute physical fatigue symptoms (r = −.22). Officers indicate using napping more often than captains do (d = .70). Further research should investigate how cabin crew members can benefit from mitigating measures.

Flight safety is consistently influenced by pilots’ self-inflicted incidents in routine flight operations. For airlines, pilots’ reports on these incidents are essential input to learn from incidents (LFI) and for various safety management processes. This paper aims to explain the voluntary reporting behavior of pilots’ self-inflicted incidents from an occupational safety perspective. We investigate how the relation between pilots’ safety citizenship behavior (SCB) and reporting behavior is moderated by pilots’ fear, shame, goals, and goal-striving when reporting, as well as the influence of a just culture on the decision to report incidents. In total, 202 German commercial pilots participated in an online survey. The results showed that reporting behavior can be considered a specific form of self-intentional SCB, but should be differentiated into subtypes depending on a pilot’s unsafe acts (errors or violations) that caused the incident. Reporting behavior-specific motivational factors influenced different subtypes of reporting behavior: Just culture moderated a positive relation between SCB and reported incidents caused by violations. Moreover, depending on the subtype of reporting behavior, the relation was moderated by different types of goals in relation to the pilots. No moderating effects of fear or shame could be demonstrated. Our findings highlight the value of a just culture for encouraging goal-oriented reporting behavior in the context of LFI and safety management.

Abstract. The rising trend of fatal aircraft accidents since 2018 suggests a limited safety capability of airlines in terms of learning from incidents (LFI). We evaluated 2,208 voluntary incident reports from commercial European pilots using qualitatively driven mixed methods to investigate LFI “bottlenecks.” The results showed that the report frequency depends on the type of pilots’ active failure causing the incident (performance‐based errors, judgment and decision‐making errors and violations). Learning opportunities were lacking, especially for incidents caused by pilots’ inadequate decision-making. Confidential reporting has positive effects on LFI, as these reports contained more information about latent failures. Furthermore, we identified several latent failures that are risk factors for certain unsafe acts. Our results may support airlines in various LFI activities.