Tired pilots in the cockpit will all too frequently result in aviation accidents and incidents. The crash of Continental Flight #3407 (operated by Colgan Air) in Buffalo, New York, on January 12, 2009 , created a powerfully loud wake-up call for the FAA to take action. Pilot fatigue had been a major precursor for aviation accidents for fifty years. Unfortunately, the FAA folks had their head in the sand, and the onerous monster of tired pilots in the cockpit was sidestepped and not properly addressed. The FAA, the NTSB, and the airline community, after a severe goading by a Congressional Subcommittee on aviation safety, has finally stepped forward to craft more restrictive flight and duty time rules.
Ace Abbott will discuss and reveal many of the unique considerations and factors relating to the ongoing problem of professional pilots in the cockpit, whose performance can be severely degraded, as a result of sleep deprivation. He will also provide self-preservation, proactive tactics that the general public can use in order to avoid being a passenger in an airplane with a pilot that is too tired to fly.