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Safety board calls for improved color vision tests and pilot screening
Fatigue can defeat pilots' proven performance records, progressive company policies and proven procedures.
The object lesson comes from the July 26, 2002, collision with trees on final approach of a Federal Express (FedEx) B727 cargo jet at Tallahassee, Fla. The three pilots survived the crash, but their airplane was destroyed.
The fatigue factor was woven throughout the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) final hearing on the case last week.
"Much more work needs to be done on the fatigue issue, especially on the back side of the clock," said NTSB Member John Goglia. The "back side of the clock" is the expression often used to describe the time from midnight to about six a.m., when the human body's natural demand for sleep is greatest. As one of his last official acts after nine years on the board, Goglia chaired the hearing. He noted with dismay that the accident occurred even though FedEx "is one of the more enlightened companies regarding the fatigue issue."
Updating obsolescent flight time and duty time regulations has been on the NTSB "Most Wanted" list of aviation safety improvements since its inception in 1990. The FedEx crash case has focused attention on this issue, as it marks at least the third crash in which the safety board has cited pilot fatigue as a contributing factor. The two previous fatigue-related crashes were:
* The Aug. 18, 1993, crash of American International Airways Flight 808, a DC-8 cargo jet, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, at the end of a long day involving a last-minute runway change as in the case of the FedEx accident, and
* The June 1, 1999, crash of American Airlines [AMR] Flight 1420, an MD-82, at Little Rock, Ark., at the end of a long day involving a last-minute runway change, as in the case of the FedEx crash (see ASW, Oct. 29, 2001).
In addition, the May 1996 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 added impetus to the issue. As a result of its investigation into this event, the NTSB determined that fatigue and hours-of-work rules need to be extended to maintenance personnel (see ASW, May 12, 2003).
NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials are scheduled to...