What lies beneath

Aviation does not have the market cornered when it comes to fatigue. Life in general is increasingly hectic within our 24-hour society. Growing mortgages, two income households and the instantaneous demands of the digital age can all crank up the pressure of everyday life, regardless of vocation. However, the variables of time zones and back-of-clock flying can further increase the impact of fatigue.

As with every industry, increased productivity from the pilot workforce is the name of the game. And while regulations have long been in place to limit the hours a pilot can fly, they have often been seen as a rigid template placed on a very diverse and dynamic working environment. As a consequence, sometimes there are flying patterns constructed for pilots that conform to the legal requirements, but potentially don’t provide the best outcomes for appropriate rest. From this contradiction, the growth of fatigue risk management systems (FRMS) has emerged in an attempt to address the specific needs of specific operations. In this period of transition, the issues remain.

We have all long been aware of the demands of long-haul, international flying, criss-crossing the world across datelines with the joys of jet lag and sleeplessness that are the mandatory by-product. In most cases, the crews on these trips include additional pilots, the aircraft are fitted with crew rest facilities and the pilots have reasonable layovers in their ports of call. However, even these overseas transits have been eroded in length by the increased frequency of services.

More concealed can be the fatigue associated with domestic and regional airline operations. Multiple early morning starts, multi-sector days and long back-of-the-clock tours of duty can sit right on the legal limit. Takeoff and approach and landing are critical phases of flight and domestic pilots can be called to manage the associated threats four times each day to a range of ports, five or six days each week. Operating as two-crew, both immediate tiredness and residual fatigue can be a frequent enemy.

Compared to fatigue-related issues, mental health is spoken of in hushed tones. A culture of stoicism persists in the aviation world and fear of the ramifications can lead competent pilots to suffer in silence. At times, self-diagnosis is a failing. The insidious tentacles of mental illness can creep up from within, strangling the rational mind’s ability to assess words and actions. So often referred to as the ‘black dog’, the ‘grey dog’ would probably be a better term for the spectre of depression.

At every turn, pilots are perceived as being mentally calm and strong in a crisis. This is a perception that is needed in order for an aircraft-load of strangers to entrust their care to two faceless humans on the other side of a bulletproof door. For the most part, it is a deserved perception. A career of checks, cross-checks and more checks routinely places flight crew under the magnifying glass of pressure and they in turn routinely pass without issue. But still, they are human.

The young pilot who passes the psychological testing on entry to an airline can be a different pilot to the one that has hit middle age, weighed down by the pressures of family, responsibility and their own mortality. It is not surprising – it is just the human condition. The good news is that awareness is growing and that treatment is available. Unfortunately, the stigma within society is seemingly more difficult to cure.

If an individual injures an arm, we don’t seek to amputate it. We treat it with the appropriate level of medical intervention, rehabilitate it with ‘physio’, give it time and when the knee is back to full strength and mobility, the individual resumes their normal activities. The same should be the case for mental illness.

There are calls for more ongoing psychological testing of flightcrew and one would suspect that ultimately that will be an outcome. Still, it is best not to be knee-jerk in our response as that may well only serve to complicate the issue or leave us with a similar situation to the rigid template overlay for fatigue.

The signs in Australia are encouraging as both the airlines and regulator are moving towards solutions for the issues of fatigue and mental illness. This progressive attitude stems from the nature of our society and is not something that is necessarily being embraced internationally. To date, there are fatigue reporting structures and support groups for pilots in difficult situations. Undoubtedly, such systems need to be grown, refined and met with broad acceptance but it is at least moving in the right direction.

There is no question that everyday life is subjected to ever-increasing pressure and that pilots are just one small fragment of that society. However, the responsibility they bear and the trust placed upon them does call for measures to be put in place that are specific to the industry, yet flexible to the needs of the individual. It is a difficult situation, calling for not only a change in the rules, but a change in behaviours.

At least, finally, we are addressing what lies beneath.

Compared to fatigue-related issues, mental health is spoken of in hushed tones.