The reduction of fatigue-related accidents has been in the NTSB most wanted list since 2016 (NSTB, 2019).
Most research studies have focused on fatigue identification and management within the commercial and/or military aviation environments (Caldwell et al., 2009; Gawron, 2016; Sieberichs & Kluge, 2016).
However, collegiate aviation may be the most challenging in terms of fatigue mitigation. Flight instructors and students often have schedules which may increase the risks for fatigue

Keller, Julius

Levin, Erik

Mendonca, Flavio A. C., Ph.D.

Teo, Aaron

English

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Publications 12-2019 Fatigue Issues and Mitigation Strategies in Collegiate Aviation Flavio A. C. Mendonca Ph.D. Perdue University, coimbraf@erau.edu Julius Keller Purdue University, keller64@purdue.edu Erik Levin Purdue University, elevin@purdue.edu Aaron Teo Purdue University, ateo@purdue.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.erau.edu/publication  Part of the Aeronautical Vehicles Commons, Aviation and Space Education Commons, and the Aviation Safety and Security Commons Scholarly Commons Citation Mendonca, F. A., Keller, J., Levin, E., & Teo, A. (2019). Fatigue Issues and Mitigation Strategies in Collegiate Aviation. International Symposium on Aviation Psychology - 2019, (). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/publication/1704 This Presentation without Video is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact commons@erau.edu. FATIGUE ISSUES AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES IN COLLEGIATE AVIATION ISAP 2019 CONFERENCE Julius Keller, Purdue UniversityFlavio Mendonca, Purdue UniversityErik Levin, Purdue UniversityAaron Teo, Purdue UniversityAUTHORSLITERATURE OVERVIEW The reduction of fatigue-related accidents has been in the NTSB most wanted list since 2016 (NSTB, 2019).  Most research studies have focused on fatigue identification and management within the commercial and/or military aviation environments (Caldwell et al., 2009; Gawron, 2016; Sieberichs & Kluge, 2016).  However, collegiate aviation may be the most challenging in terms of fatigue mitigation.  Flight instructors and students often have schedules which may increase the risks for fatigue.  CURRENT RESEARCH The Collegiate Aviation Fatigue Inventory (CAFI) is a valid survey questionnaire based upon previous studies and is composed of four primary sections: Fatigue awareness; Causes of fatigue; Lifestyle; and Demographics. 85% of the respondents indicated fatigue impacted the quality of their flight training. 51% of respondents proceeded with flight activities despite being extremely tired. 59% of the respondents indicated symptoms of fatigue, such as reduced situational awareness and decrements in cognitive functions.FATIGUE RELATED DECISION-MAKING SCENARIOSMETHODOLOGY  Researchers of this study created six fatigue related decision-making scenarios.  Scenarios were selected to reflect real-world situations collegiate aviation pilots could relate to.  Additionally, accidents case studies were referenced to add another component of relatedness.  Findings from Mendonca, Keller, and Lu (2019) were also utilized while developing the scenarios. Each scenario included events which could cause mental and or physical fatigue. Once the scenarios were created, the research sought subject matter experts to assist in revisions. Distributed to aviation classes via Qualtrics.FATIGUE RELATED DECISION-MAKING SCENARIOSMETHODOLOGY Scenario Description1. Lack of sleep and stressYou were restless because of stress and only got 4 hours of sleep because of two upcoming midterms and a checkride. After your two midterms, you find it difficult to concentrate, are careless, and repetitively yawning. Your checkride is in two hours. Do you proceed with your checkride? Why or why not? Please explain.2. Lack of sleep but feels preparedYou were unexpectedly called to move your checkride to the current day because of a cancellation. It was previously scheduled for 7 days in the future. The forecast indicates poor weather in 7 days. You are well prepared with your knowledge, procedures, and confident you will pass. Last night you were socializing with friends and did not get much rest. Do you agree with moving your checkride and proceeding? Why or not? Please explain.3. Significant weather delay while on cross-countryYou are out flying a three-legged trip. Before the third leg you experienced a delay due to unforecastedweather conditions which lasted five hours. What was expected to be a four-hour trip now has lasted more than 10 hours. You are exhausted when the weather clears up for your 2-hour return flight. Do you proceed to your destination? Why or why not? Please explain.4. Lack of sleep and family issuesYou are doing very well with your flight activities and course work. However, recently, you have been dealing with family problems and have not slept well for the last three nights over the weekend. Your flight lesson is Monday morning and you have a 0730 slot. Do you proceed with your flight lesson? Why or why not? Please explain.5. Part-time job schedule change and lack of sleep but has a 4-hour nap Finals week has begun, and your part-time job manager has asked you to work extra hours. You agreed because of the extra pay. Studying, examinations, and work have caused you to get approximately 3 hours of sleep each night for the past four nights. You are fatigued. However, you have a night cross country flight (2.5 hours) coming up. You have a window of nothing scheduled and can sleep 4 hours prior to the night flight. Do you proceed with the flight? Why or why not? Please explain.6. Physical fatigue and +14-hour day-night cross-countryYou were able to get a good night’s rest and woke up refreshed at 0800. Your only academic task for the day is a night cross country (2.5 hours) at 2100 local. A friend calls for help to move apartments. You agree because she will pay you $100.00. For a late lunch, you order a pizza. The move took 8 hours and consisted of carrying furniture up and down stairs. Once you finished helping, you get a flat tire on the way home. It takes a while to fix. You have 1 hour before your flight. Once you get to the hangar you find out your aircraft will not be back until 2200 local. Do you proceed with your night cross country? Why or why not? Please explain.External Pressures(n = 42)FATIGUE RELATED DECISION-MAKING SCENARIOSRESULTS  After reviewing through the data, External pressures had three domains:  organizational pressure, overreliance on another pilot i.e. CFI, and the inability to recognize hazardous attitudes.  “I know I'm not 100% at my best, but honestly, I would still go.  There's a lot of pressure- the examiner has scheduled time out of their day to take my checkride, and I don't want to waste their time.”; “I might not be flying at my best, but there will be an instructor to keep me safe and I'm sure that I'll still learn something either way”; “I know my body and my mind well enough that I can fly competently and professionally, in a stressful environment, with three to five hours of sleep in a forty-eight-hour period” (invulnerability); and “Flying will be a nice break after a bunch of physical work all day.  I'm a flight instructor, so I work long days all the time.  Let's fly!” (Macho/Invulnerability). Positive Threat Assessment while Seeking Alternatives(n = 42)FATIGUE RELATED DECISION-MAKING SCENARIOSRESULTS  Articulated Positive Threat Assessment while Seeking Alternatives are shown with the following responses: “I would go ahead and complete the oral portion of the checkride, but the flight portion should not be completed as you would be a danger to yourself and others, in addition to probably failing the checkride.”  “There isn't a ton of pressure to do this flight- I can tell my instructor I haven't slept well and want to do a sim or discussion instead or reschedule for later.” “Safety is more important than getting to the destination. I would find a place to rest and continue the flight after resting.”  “ask to do a ground [lesson] instead of flying” “During the time in which we waited, I would take a nap and use caffeine strategically before and during the flight.”BEST PRACTICES “No one is immune from fatigue. Yet, in our society, establishing widespread preventive measures to combat fatigue is often a very difficult goal to achieve” (Salazar, n.d.). Fatigue prevention is one of the most useful ways to combat fatigue.  Needs to be addressed from multiple angles. Research Training Policy • Caldwell, J. A., Mallis, M. M., Caldwell, J. L., Miller, J., Paul, M., & Neri, D. (2009). Fatigue countermeasures in aviation. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 80(1), 28-59. • Gawron, V. J. , J. A. (2016). Overview of self-reported measures of fatigue. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 26(3), 120-131.• McDale, S., & Ma, J. (2008). Effects of fatigue on flight training: A survey of U.S. Part 141 flight schools. International Journal of Applied Aviation Studies, 8(2), 311-336.• National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). (2019). NTSB 2017-2018 most wanted list of transportation safety improvements. Retrieved from https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwlfs-19-20/mwl2.aspx• Mendonca, F. A. C., Keller, J., & Lu, C-T (2019). Fatigue identification and management in flight training: An investigation of collegiate aviation pilots. Manuscript submitted for publication. • Sieberichs, S., & Kluge, A. (2016). Good sleep quality and ways to control fatigue risks in aviation—An empirical study with commercial airline pilots. In: Goonetilleke R., Karwowski W. (Eds) Advances in physical ergonomics and human factors. Advances in intelligent systems and computing, vol 489. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-41694-6_20REFERENCES

Fatigue Issues and Mitigation Strategies in Collegiate Aviation

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Fatigue Issues and Mitigation Strategies in Collegiate Aviation

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