A new report issued by the European Cockpit Association (ECA) has highlighted growing concerns regarding aviation safety, pointing out that fear of negative consequences and a lack of trust in reporting systems are among the main obstacles preventing pilots from declaring themselves unfit to fly due to fatigue.
According to what was published by Euronews news network on Wednesday, the study conducted by aviation consulting firm Paine Partners, which included 7,200 pilots in 32 countries, showed that more than half of the participants reported flying while tired, while more than 76% said they experienced a microsleep of at least one minute in the cockpit during the past four weeks.
More than half of the participants indicated that they had flown at least one trip in the past three months before later realizing they should have declared themselves unfit to fly due to fatigue. The most frequent obstacle was anxiety about management's reaction, with 47% of pilots citing this, while 44% said they did not want to draw attention to themselves, and 35% expressed hesitation about burdening their employer.
For her part, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) emphasized the need for targeted safety initiatives to improve the quality of fatigue reports and raise awareness, as well as to establish a work culture where employees can declare they are tired without fear of reprimand, noting that the study linked fatigue to operational factors such as flight schedules and shifts.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
Comments (0)