Essay On Fatigue In Aviation

Fatigue in aviation has always been a significant issue when it comes to the safety of the crew and passengers. Fatigue in flight is not the only issue. There is also a serious safety issue in other areas of aviation such as maintenance, air traffic control (ATC), and even in areas such as baggage claim and gate security. One can find evidence of fatigue in just about every aspect of daily life. A majority of vehicle accidents can be contributed to fatigue in one way or another. One can even see it in the late night college student trying to finish a paper before its deadline. Although the last example doesn’t have any serious safety concerns it is still a very real instance of fatigue. The area of transportation has seen thousands of incidents where fatigue has

Some of these include weakness, muscle aches, headaches, irritability, being overly emotional, slow reactions, diminished motor skills, reduced short term memory capacity, and tunneled concentration (Campbell, 2002). All of these symptoms can have serious effects on crew members and should not be taken lightly. On many occasions some of these cannot be noticed by the member, such as slow reactions and irritability, it is the duty of people around them to know the signs and address them if necessary. Of course just having these symptoms doesn’t always mean that someone is fatigued. Some or even most of them can be the cause of something else going on but all the same they can affect flight and the safety of passengers if they are serious enough. Fatigue is a very broad term and shows many different faces; however each is just as critical as the next.

Sleepiness is no doubt, the most prevalent form of fatigue in pilots and there are many ways to attack this symptom. Obviously, the first and foremost is to get a good night’s sleep. It is recommended that people get at least eight hours of uninterrupted but some people