A system of anonymous, voluntary reporting of fatigue by pilots and flight attendants can be used to help identify and correct fatigue hazards that might otherwise remain unknown, according to a study of a fatigue reporting system at one airline.1
The study of approximately 309 pilots and 674 flight attendants2 at the short- and medium-haul airline from Sept. 1, 2010, to Aug. 31, 2011, found that the rate of fatigue-report submission among pilots was 103 reports per 1,000 persons; the rate among flight attendants was 68 reports per 1,000 persons. The report on the study — published in the August issue of Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine — did not name the airline, but all three authors were medical or crewing officials with BMI, British Midland International.
Data for the study were gathered from fatigue report forms (FRFs), which were submitted by pilots and flight attendants to provide information about fatigue-related work events.
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