Full Length Research Paper

Fatigue factors among regional pilots in Malaysia

Baba Md Deros¹*, Dian Darina Indah Daruis² and Nuhmandeen Bahurudeen¹

¹Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, 43600 Selangor, Malaysia.

²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia, Kem Sg. Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 7 May, 2012

Abstract

Fatigue among pilots and aircrew has been acknowledged as a human factor safety issue since commercial aviation started. The first objective of this study is to investigate the promoting and interfering factors that are involved in pilots’ sleep patterns. Meanwhile, the second objective of this study is to understand pilots’ duty hours and delay factors that eventually lead to fatigue. The findings from the study demonstrate that most pilots have no difficulty in getting to sleep and most had never taken any sleeping aid. The study found five sleep-interfering factors, all of which can be categorised as either environmental or physiological factors. Environmental interfering factors include heat, noise and lighting. Physiological factors include biological needs and personal worries. Personal worries top the list of the five interfering factors that were identified in this study. The study also found that flight delays can easily fatigue pilots and aircrews. Fatigue is a serious problem because 93% of pilots have admitted that they had nodded off while in control of their flights. It can be concluded that pilots have no problem with sleeping; however, their duty hours and, especially, flight delays cause them to experience fatigue.

Key words: Fatigue, survey, aircraft fatigue, pilots, aircrew.