Sleep and Air Traffic Controllers

A still from the air traffic controller movie, PUSHING TIN

I was looking at an interesting but tragic article on Air Traffic Controller sleep and fatigue the other day and what I learned was actually quite scary. The CNN story stated:

In the August 27 Comair crash in Lexington, Kentucky, the lone air-traffic controller was working on just two hours of sleep, according to the NTSB.

The controller cleared the CRJ-100 to take off from the correct runway, which was 7,003 feet long, but the airplane mistakenly turned onto a shorter runway that was just half that length. The plane crashed into a fence and trees at the airport perimeter, killing 49 of the 50 people onboard.

The controller in the tower had worked a 6:30 a.m.-to-2:30 p.m. shift the day before the accident, then returned nine hours later and worked from 11:30 p.m. until the 6:07 a.m. accident, the NTSB says. He told investigators his only sleep between shifts was a two-hour nap.

So here I must wonder, what was this guy thinking? He was scheduled to work for about a 24 hour period with a decent break in between and he only took a 2 hour nap!

While I have no idea what is required of these people, I would venture to say that if I were an air traffic controller, I would certainly try to get more sleep than 2 hours before going to work where, literally, people’s lives are on the line.

It was reported that there have been 4 other fatigue related incidents (all italics are mine):

Chicago, Illinois, March 23, 2006: The NTSB letter says a controller cleared an Airbus A320 passenger plane to cross a runway and then, less than 15 seconds later, cleared a Boeing 737 to take off on the same runway. The pilot of the Boeing saw the Airbus and stopped before reaching the taxiway intersection. The controller told investigators he had slept only four hours during a nine-hour break between shifts. 

Los Angeles, California, August 19, 2004: A controller cleared a Boeing 737 passenger plane to taxi onto and take off from a runway at the same time that another plane, a Boeing 747, had been cleared to land on the same runway. The pilot of the landing plane saw the 737 and pulled up 12 seconds before a collision would have occurred, passing about 200 feet above the runway. The controller had slept five or six hours before returning to work, the NTSB letter says.

Denver, Colorado, September 25, 2001: A controller approved a request from a Boeing 757 cargo plane crew to depart from a runway, even though the runway had been closed for construction. The aircraft passed within 32 feet of lights that had been erected in the construction zone. Investigators determined that the controller had slept less than two hours during a nine-hour period between work days.

Seattle, Washington, July 8, 2001: A controller cleared a Boeing MD-80 passenger airplane to cross a runway at the same time a Boeing 767 passenger airplane was about to land on the runway. The pilots in the landing airplane hit their brakes to avoid a collision, stopping only 810 feet short of the MD-80. The controller was working his third shift in two days, with eight-hour rest periods between shifts.

As you can see in the LA incident, the person got at least 5 hours of sleep, while the others were quite a bit less.

My question is this:  could it be that these people cannot fall asleep quickly enough to get the rest they need in between shifts?

This could be a real possibility. Think about the stress they must be under while working. That is not likely something that they would be able to just shrug off, drive home, nap, and drive back. I would doubt that they would be allowed to take sleeping pills, and also, at least in the ComAir case, they were being asked to sleep at a time of day when they may not be tired.

Could it be that they are being required to work shifts that their bodies cannot sustain?

I think this too is a real possibility. The human body may not have been meant to handle these types of work schedules.

However, I will say that common sense would say, if you do not feel up to it, don’t go in to work.

Comments

[Carl]

I work the 12 hour shift. 12 hours on days, then transistion to 12 hours on nights.

I find the day shift is the most difficult because I cannot get enough sleep during the night.

I rise from bed at 2:00am when working days, then rise at 2:00pm when working nights.

Is waking at 2am a problem with getting quality sleep?

[Dr. Mike, Ph.D. - The Sleep Doctor]

Carl,

I'm out of the country, but will respond when I return.

[C.W.]

You are correct in assuming it is difficult for we controllers to sleep at odd times in between shifts as well as how our bodies handle such stress. Typically the job is not as stressful as one would think. It obviously depends on location and traffic workload. The biggest contribution to sleep deprivation is the inconsistency in our schedules. There is no rhyme or reason and therefore no stable schedule for our bodies to adjust to. That can be attributed to the lack of available manning. We get into a whole new ball game with that one when referring to both military and FAA manning. Too many opinions, too many variables detracting from quality numbers. Bottom line, ATC is not a normal M-F, 9-5 job. That alone is enough to make anyone crazy. Shift work is just not conducive to a normal and good sleep schedule. Sleep deprivation just comes with the territory and unfortunately bad things happen because of it. But it's the same with pilots. We all have crew rest restrictions and yes, at times controllers probably fail to use proper judgement when given opportunities to rest. However, life doesn't stop happening when you have a break in between shifts. We still have other responsibilities and priorities which must be addressed, often leaving little time to get quality sleep. It's just a price we pay.

[Dr. breus]

The real problem is that if the FAA wanted to, they could require a particular schedule, which everyone could follow, that would be very helpful. There is a ton of data to suggest a set schedule would work well for productivity and health.