Although pre-flight naps were common among ultra-long-range (ULR)1 pilots participating in a 2012 sleep study, they nevertheless reported increased fatigue and sleepiness and a slowdown in performance during their flights, New Zealand researchers said.
In a report on the study, published in the December 2014 issue of Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, the researchers, led by T. Leigh Signal of the Sleep/Wake Research Centre at Massey University in Wellington, examined the effectiveness of sleep recommendations and other fatigue-mitigation guidance material for 52 airline pilots operating on a westbound ULR flight and a slightly shorter, long-range, return flight.
The participating pilots, in four-pilot crews, completed a sleep/duty diary and wore an actigraph — a watchlike device that monitors rest and activity cycles — before, during and after their flights.
Within each group of four pilots, two were designated as the primary crew and operated the …
