Tue, Oct 24, 2006
Passengers Were Subject To Pilot Experiment
The FAA isn't too happy
with JetBlue Airlines these days. The company performed an
experiment with volunteer pilots to see how alert they could be for
extended hours, with paying passengers blissfully unaware they were
part of the research.
The FARs (Federal Aviation Regulations) explicitly prohibit
crews from flying more than eight hours in a duty day.
The Wall Street Journal reports the unconventional upstart
airline had several pilots volunteer to be outfitted with devices
to monitor their alertness when working in excess of the
FAA-mandated eight hour limit a day.
A California company, Alertness Solutions devised the test,
hoping it could sell the idea to federal regulators of "practical
strategies [to] improve safety and productivity in our 24-hour
society." Pilots flew with an alertness monitoring device for up to
eleven hours in the test. JetBlue always had a safety pilot
in the cockpit if the guinea pig pilot felt too fatigued to
continue.
While the New York FSDO (Flight Standards District Office)
approved the test, when the idea hit the brass in Washington, they
hit the ceiling.
"We don't allow experiments with passengers on board, period,"
an FAA official told the Journal.
Of course, if airlines could have their crews fly more than the
current limit of eight hours, money could be saved. But with the
incidence of pilot fatigue being more of an apparent factor in
accidents, it seems unlikely the FAA will consider increasing the
length of a crew day.
David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said
"Passengers don't expect to be test pilots themselves" when they
fly on a commercial airliner.
The experiment has ended, with inconclusive results .
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