Fatigue-Related Aviation Mishaps

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Fatigue is a critical safety issue to U.S. Air Force (USAF) flight and ground crew. Nearly 15 yr of mishap reports were analyzed to determine how fatigue affects USAF operations with the goal of improving fatigue risk management policies and tools.METHODS: Summary data for 19,920 aviation mishap reports dating back to 2003 were collected from the Air Force Safety Automated System (AFSAS). Fatigue-related mishaps were identified based on designations provided within AFSAS. Other metrics examined were characteristics such as timing, cost, and aircraft metrics, among others. Contingency tables built from these metrics were used to assess fatigue-related trends across the aviation community.RESULTS: While only 3.88% of all mishaps were identified as fatigue-related, they are associated with 2.1 billion of medical expenses and property damage, or 18% of the 11.7 billion total cost of all mishaps included in the study. Nearly a quarter of the fatigue-related mishaps fall into the most severe mishap category and more than half occurred between 0100 and 0700, local time. Fatigue-related mishaps tended to be more common for Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and ground operations.DISCUSSION: Fatigue is very costly to the USAF despite the relatively low incidence rate of fatigue-related mishaps. This is because larger proportions of severe mishaps were found to be fatigue-related. RPA and ground maintenance operators might be especially susceptible to fatigue and potentially lack adequate fatigue mitigation support and training tailored to their unique operational environment, suggesting a need to improve upon fatigue mitigation tools and strategies.Gaines AR, Morris MB, Gunzelmann G. Fatigue-related aviation mishaps. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(5):440447.

Fatigue in Aviation: Safety Risks, Preventive Strategies and Pharmacological Interventions

“…Fatigue was reported to be a causative factor in 12% of the US Navy’s Class A (most severe) accidents and in 25% of the US Air Force’s (USAF) night tactical fighter Class A accidents ( Ramsey and McGlohn, 1997 ). A recent review of nearly 15years of USAF mishap reports showed that approximately 4% of all mishaps were fatigue-related, resulting in 32 fatalities and costing >$2 billion ( Gaines et al, 2020 ). Interestingly, the percentage of fatigue-related class A mishaps was significantly higher at 24%, which is comparable to the 23% found in civil aviation ( Marcus and Rosekind, 2017 ; Gaines et al, 2020 ).…”

“…A recent review of nearly 15years of USAF mishap reports showed that approximately 4% of all mishaps were fatigue-related, resulting in 32 fatalities and costing >$2 billion ( Gaines et al, 2020 ). Interestingly, the percentage of fatigue-related class A mishaps was significantly higher at 24%, which is comparable to the 23% found in civil aviation ( Marcus and Rosekind, 2017 ; Gaines et al, 2020 ). This higher percentage of Class A mishaps related to fatigue, may have been due to a more thorough investigation of human factors in the more severe mishaps.…”

“…For example, sleep time has been reported to average 6.5h when take-off was at 8AM and 5.5h when duty started between 4 and 5AM ( Paul et al, 2001b ; Roach et al, 2012b ). Shorter sleep time was associated with elevated levels of fatigue and accidents, with >50% of the USAF fatigue-related mishaps occurring between 1 and 7AM ( Reis et al, 2016 ; Gaines et al, 2020 ).…”

“…For example, in 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act addressed the issue of aircrew duty hours and flight times ( United States Government, 1938 ) However, throughout the years, fatigue remained an important risk factor for aircraft incidents and accidents both in civil and military aviation. In the last two decades, it has been identified as the probable cause of 21–23% of major aviation accidents investigations ( Caldwell, 2012 ; Marcus and Rosekind, 2017 ; Gaines et al, 2020 ). In 2020, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) identified “state of wellbeing and fitness for duties” as top safety issue for large aeroplanes ( European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), 2020 ).…”

Human Factors Considerations in Satellite Operations Human-Computer Interaction Technologies: A Review of Current Applications and Theory

“…Inadequate or insufficient training has led to RPA human factors mishaps [89]. RPA operations consist of automated human-system integration (HSI) systems that drive increased training requirements [97].…”