Flight Safety Foundation has published on its website a document by the industry’s Fatigue Countermeasures Working Group that details the best practices for implementation of a policy allowing for controlled rest (CR) on the flight deck.
CR is defined by ICAO as a “short sleep opportunity” that serves as a mitigation strategy in case of unexpected fatigue during flight operations. It is not to be used as a planned strategy to extend duty periods but rather as a “safety net” to combat in-flight fatigue.
Although the first CR procedures were introduced by airlines more than 20 years ago, the document, Controlled Rest on the Flight Deck: A resource for operators, provides the first review ever conducted of the practice of CR, along with an overview of current scientific research on napping, sleep inertia (the feeling of grogginess that sometimes occu…
