How can pilot fatigue be minimized

Pilot fatigue: can you beat your body clock?

The new EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency ) study on “Effectiveness of Flight Time Limitation (FTL)” revealed that European pilots and cabin crew are experiencing unusually high levels of fatigue. This new study comes at a time where air traffic is growing rapidly and pilots are increasingly being asked to fly up to the limits of what is legally allowed. Moreover, fatigue in Europe’s cockpits has become an every-day and growing reality. It is estimated that pilot fatigue contributes to 15-20% of all fatal air accidents related to human error. Pilot and flight crew fatigue has been a topic of discussion for a while – what is the real situation in Europe’s airlines?

Fatigue Hot Spots

EASA on behalf of the EU Commission has just carried out a new study based on a real-life operation of 24 airlines in Europe. The EU-wide survey among 15,680 pilots and cabin crew identified two main ‘fatigue hot spots’ on board of Europe’s aircraft.

The study revealed the major shortcomings of flight time limitations (FTL), the rules governing the duration of flights, service time and pilot rest for night flights and disruptive schedules. The study found an increased probability of high fatigue levels during nights and duty periods with late finishes, among both pilots and cabin crew. The duties of more than 10 hours at the less favourable time of the day and disruptive schedules became the biggest fatigue sources.

Notably, the study only covers Night Flights and Disruptive Schedules as these duties were top ranked on their impact on aircrew fatigue. EASA plans to continue the research and study the other 4 key issues identified in 2013.

Stressful Night Duties

According to the study, night flights, regardless of their length, cause excessive fatigue to the crew. Night duties (longer than 10 hours) were qualified as particularly stressful: “the results of this research phase highlight that prescriptive limits alone are not sufficient to prevent high fatigue during night flights.”

Night flights come out as particularly fatiguing. The current European FTL rules permit an 11-hour shift through the night – and up to 12:45 hours for a late-afternoon departure – with no breaks, but the need to be awake and alert throughout the flight. The study has now demonstrated that not only very long night flights (10 hours or more) but all night flights, irrespective of their duration, lead to an excessive level of crew fatigue.

These research results are particularly relevant for airline long-haul operations, as the length of night FTLs determines how many crew members will be on board for many long-haul trips that include a night duty.

Disruptive schedules for short-haul flights

The second duty type and the other major source of fatigue the study researched is described as ‘disruptive schedules’. It mostly affects short-haul operations. Disruptive schedules are those when crew start early in the morning (e.g. at 05:00) or finish late in the evening / during the night (e.g. 23:00-01:59). Handling consecutive blocks of such duties and the transition between them are routinely at the top of short-haul pilots’ concerns about fatigue and rosters. The study confirms that these duties critically disrupt the human body clock and its wake-sleep cycle.

Fatigue risks

This study puts the spotlight on a well-known, well-researched and now operationally confirmed safety risk. Ever since the 1944 Chicago Convention (ICAO), crew fatigue has been recognized as a safety risk to air operations. Replacing the hours your body needs to be asleep with the task of piloting an aircraft carries a very high fatigue risk which reduces the physical and mental ability to operate safely. A fatigued person may lose 80% of his/her attention capabilities and 70% of responsiveness. This risk must be taken seriously to prompt an immediate review of Europe’s flight time limitation rules.

The published results of EASA study comes as a wake-up call for European and national aviation regulators that it is impossible to beat the internal body clock. The potential safety repercussions of heavily sleep-disrupting night flights, early starts and late finishes are now clearly demonstrated.

Also, EASA is planning to review the rulemaking or safety promotion actions and the prioritization of rulemaking in its next safety programming cycle in 2020. In this process, EASA is planning to contribute with fatigue management experts from the Member States, industry stakeholders and the scientific community to define a new strategy to more decisively promote the use of resting opportunities in the context of night duties. All these actions will bring more EASA support to air transport operators in their responsibility to manage fatigue.

Research background:

Due to limited EU funding available, only 2 top-ranked duties were studied, the 4 other key issues identified in 2013, were not covered. EASA plans to continue the research and study the following four issues:

The research tender is expected in autumn, 2019, with the operational data-driven research expected to last for ca. 2-3 years (until 2023).

How To Avoid Fatigue In Aviation

Do you feel drowsy and just roll out of bed? You’re tired, sleepy and working is the last thing on your mind.

Once you get to work, you painfully manage to get through the day but at a great cost.

According to the FAA defining fatigue in humans is extremely difficult due to the large variability of causes. Causes of fatigue can range from boredom to circadian rhythm disruption to heavy physical exertion. In layman’s terms, fatigue can simply be defined as weariness. However, from an operational standpoint a more accurate definition might be: “Fatigue is a condition characterized by increased discomfort with lessened capacity for work, reduced efficiency of accomplishment, loss of power or capacity to respond to stimulation, and is usually accompanied by a feeling of weariness and tiredness.”

Problems of fatigue in aviation

A long day of mental stimulation can be taxing. Studies have shown that studying for an examination or processing data can be as fatiguing as manual labor. Manual labor and mental fatigue may appear different but the end result is the same, an inability to function normally.

In the FAAs Pilots Safety Brochure, fatigue leads to a decrease in your ability to carry out tasks. Several studies have demonstrated significant impairment in a person’s ability to carry out tasks that require manual dexterity, concentration, and higher-order intellectual processing. Fatigue may happen acutely, which is to say in a relatively short time (hours) after some significant physical or mental activity. Or, it may occur gradually over several days or weeks. Typically, this situation occurs with someone who does not get sufficient sleep over a prolonged period of time (as with sleep apnea, jet lag, or shift work) or someone who is involved in ongoing physical or mental activity with insufficient rest.

Fatigue in aviation has been a major cause of several aircraft accidents. It has been estimated to contribute to 20-30% of all transport accidents and 70% of all fatal accidents in commercial aviation are related to human error.

The math is substantial and the effect is dramatic.

Whether you’re a pilot, technician, or a procurement professional fatigue is real.

Fatigue alters your mood, cognitive function and is a pain to deal with.

Fatigue is easily mitigated

Fatigue in aviation can easily be reduced, unless you’re a pilot with strict demands and an unalterable schedule. For the majority of us, fatigue is reduced by making a few minor life changes.

Do not.

You should…

Fatigue in aviation is real.

Find ways to minimize this and you’ll see a noticeable effect on your mood, your work and your life.

7 Ways to Prevent Pilot Fatigue

Airline pilots must be well rested and focused before they are legally allowed to take off. Read on for 7 ways to prevent pilot fatigue to keep you flying.

Did you know that pilot fatigue is one of the biggest threats to air safety?

That’s right, being well-rested is one of the most important things you can do as a pilot to ensure a safe flight.

However, the life of a pilot doesn’t exactly go hand in hand with rest. Crazy schedules, time zone changes, and other factors can all take a toll on the body and lead to fatigue.

Unfortunately, if you are fatigued at the start of a flight, it’s only going to get worse. That’s why prevention is the best way to combat pilot fatigue.

But what exactly can you do to prevent pilot fatigue? Read this article to find out the top seven ways.

Causes

First, let’s take a quick look at what causes pilot fatigue, as this will help you better understand how to prevent it.

Pilot fatigue may be caused by:

1. Fuel Up On Food

Food is energy. And just like a plane can’t run without the appropriate energy stores, neither can your body.

So, you need to make sure you are eating the right food, in the right amount, and at the right times in order to prevent pilot fatigue.

First of all, you need to avoid sugary, processed foods as much as possible. We realize this can be incredibly difficult when you’re on the go, but eating the right foods is essential for keeping your energy levels up.

Focus on eating wholesome foods, like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, nuts, and seeds.

You’ll also want to load up on foods that are high in complex carbs before a big flight. Some options include potatoes, lentils, beans, pasta, and oatmeal. These foods will help keep your glycogen levels in check so you don’t crash (no pun intended).

Also, because the life of a pilot is physically demanding, you want to make sure you are eating enough food as well. You can use this calculator to determine how many calories you should be eating a day.

2. Shed Extra Weight

Ok, even with the physically demanding lifestyle, you still may be packing a few extra pounds around the waist.

Staying in shape while traveling so much can be tough, and before you know it, extra pounds can creep up on you.

Shedding this extra weight can make a huge difference in energy levels. Look into revving up your exercise routine or cutting back on your portions to help shed these extra pounds.

And not having access to a gym is no excuse- here’s an 11-minute fighter pilot’s workout you can do anywhere.

3. Drink Plenty of Water

Dehydration is perhaps one of the biggest energy zappers out there.

And prolonged dehydration will put you on the fast track to pilot fatigue.

So, drink water. Lots and lots of water.

While most people try to follow the «eight glasses a day rule,» this amount actually doesn’t work out for everyone.

Bigger bodies need more water, and smaller ones need less. Therefore, you should be drinking until your pee is almost clear.

4. Take a Nap

According to NASA, 26 minutes is all it takes to significantly improve performance and alertness.

Try to squeeze in one of these naps before briefs or flight operations in order to combat fatigue and improve your performance.

Just make sure you set a timer or have someone wake you up. You don’t want to nap too long, as this can cause grogginess and lead to more fatigue.

5. Get Enough Sleep

This one’s obviously easier said than done.

Getting enough sleep is a tricky business for everyone, let alone those who are dealing with wacky schedule changes and different time zones.

The recommended amount of sleep is somewhere between 7-9 hours a night. If you are getting less than this, you will most certainly experience performance deficits.

Make use of ear plugs and sleep masks in order to make sure you aren’t being disturbed if your schedule requires you to sleep during daylight hours.

It’s also a good idea to keep a log of your sleep hours so that you don’t accumulate too much sleep debt.

Typically, you can erase sleep debate by getting in a third of the accumulated debt. For example, if you accumulated 9 hours of sleep debt, you should be back to normal with an additional three hours of sleep.

Try to get these hours in as soon as possible. If you can’t, take care of it over your weekend.

6. Take Care of Jet Lag

Jet lag is pretty much what you sign up for when you embark on a career as a pilot.

However, in order to combat pilot fatigue, you’ll want to take steps to rid yourself of jet lag asap.

Tips for preventing jet lag include:

7. Be Smart About Caffeine

We all know how awesome caffeine is.

However, a healthy relationship with caffeine can quickly spiral into a dependency and a mask for sleep deprivation.

You should treat caffeine as an extra boost to promote alertness, not as a necessary medicine you’re throwing back every hour.

Pure sources of caffeine, like coffee, tea, and dark chocolate, are your best bet. Avoid sugar energy drinks and sodas as much as possible.

Also, make sure you are sticking to the recommended dosage of 100-200mg every 5 hours.

Pilot Fatigue Wrap Up

You may think you have nothing to worry about if your fatigue is only minor.

However, even the slightest level of fatigue can lead to a huge decline in human performance.

Remember, fatigue can quickly lead to:

If the above prevention methods are not doing the trick, it may be time to see a doctor. You may have an underlying medical condition that is causing your pilot fatigue.

Got questions about pilot fatigue or any extra tips you’d like to share? Drop a comment below or contact us today!

Combating Fighter Pilot Fatigue

Pilot fatigue is a constant threat to all aircrew. There are particular risk factors for those flying high-performance fighter platforms. Flying high-G sorties is physically exhausting. This is an tiring business and even well-rested pilots will find themselves fatigued from the physical and mental demands of combat flight operations. In order for you to effectively combat this deadly adversary, you need to first understand the contributing causes, and then honestly evaluate your own unique habit patterns and risk factors. It is important to be aware of the causes and inevitable effects of fatigue.

CAUSES OF FATIGUE

Sleep Deprivation & Blood Alcohol Content

As a modern fighter pilot, your nation requires you to perform flawlessly at the limit of human information processing in a physically demanding environment. Even minor levels of underlying fatigue will manifest at this critical level of human performance. And as fatigue worsens, performance degrades in a progressive and predictable pattern. First, attention declines. Next, one’s ability to reason and reliably evaluate deteriorates. Irritability often follows. Finally, motor skills begin to falter with fine motor skills affected prior to large purposeful movements as daytime sleepiness builds. One famous study cleverly compared progressing levels of sleep deprivation to performance degradation equivalent to increasing blood alcohol content (BAC).

Flight duties and abundant queep equate into very long duty days. Long duty shifts alone are directly associated with fatigue, but these long days have many second-order effects as well. For example, there will likely be an influence on a pilot’s daily sleep habits and diet. Convenient, but unhealthy, snacks become the next best option to a skipped meal due to an extended debrief. Long hours away from home translate into family stressors, which diminish quality and duration of sleep. In addition to long duty hours, circadian rhythm disturbance remains a threat to sufficient amounts of good-quality sleep. Fortunately, this is one cause of fatigue in aircrew that affects the long-haul heavy pilot community much more than the average fighter pilot in a training environment. In the theater of combat, however, all bets are off and the expectation to fly long-duration sorties during times when your body is convinced it should be asleep remains a frequent occurrence. Lastly, any decrease in sleep begins to be banked as a sleep debt, which can create a cycle of fatigue, insufficient sleep, and diminished performance which only worsens over time.

NOBODY IS IMMUNE TO FATIGUE’S DEADLY EFFECTS…NOT EVEN RON BURGANDY:

In the USAF, aircrew do not acquire nearly the hands-on training for fatigue as other human factors, like the altitude chamber for hypoxia or overcoming G-forces in a centrifuge. However, similar to your experience when hypoxic, each individual displays their own constellation of symptoms to fatigue. Most studies of fatigue’s effects in aviators do not demonstrate differences in performance among sub-groups: male and female aviators’ performance are equally affected by fatigue. Good news for ‘Old Ballz’ though – one large study showed that older groups of pilots exhibited generally superior performance when fatigued.

There are a number of helpful strategies that any pilot can employ to combat fatigue. The first step is prevention. Why go to the merge if you can defeat your adversary before entering their threat range? Of course, there will always be times when the merge is unavoidable. A sudden shift in schedule or a poorly planned TDY can provoke circadian rhythm disturbance. A new baby at home or a stressful upgrade may degrade your sleep duration and quality. But effective strategies to minimize the effects of fatigue do exist. The first step is to understand the causes and factors that will place you at higher risk. Honestly evaluate your fatigue ORM. You can be certain that your performance WILL be affected when fatigued.

COMBATING FATIGUE – PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Maintain Your Energy Stores

Much like aircraft energy management is a building block of Basic Fighter Maneuvering (BFM), energy conservation is fundamental to optimal performance by the human machine. Your diet and nutrition is your JP-8. If energy expenditure is greater than the sum of energy inputs and reserves, the body tires more quickly and recovery will be delayed.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy that you require to simply exist. The sum of your BMR and energy required to perform additional activity (to include sitting at a computer doing queep) is your total energy expenditure (TEE) for a 24-hour period. Flying a single-seat jet aircraft is both a cognitively and physically demanding experience. The vibration and noise of the jet, the increased G-forces and necessary AGSM, not to mention the high degree of focused attention, markedly add to the typical fighter pilot’s daily energy requirements.

You would never take a jet that did not accurately report its fuel stores, yet you probably are not always clear of your own energy balance at time of takeoff. Use the below tool to calculate your BMR within a 5% accuracy. This will give you a rough idea of the minimum daily calories you require if you were to engage in NO physical activity.

Nutrition is a complex topic that merits a full, separate post. The body’s primary source of stored energy is from fats. During exercise, carbohydrates in the form of glycogen are utilized prior to fats and provide an immediate energy burst. Glycogen stores are increased thru consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods. Typically glycogen stores expire after 30-90 minutes of continuous exercise, depending on activity and intensity. Proteins are used for many bodily functions, but are preserved from use as an energy source until last resort (i.e. starvation).

When energy output (expenditure) is greater than input (food & supplements), you will lose weight. In the words of former weapons officer, BAT Orzechowski, “It’s science.” But that’s another brief entirely. For the purposes of how to prevent fatigue, you must ensure that you are running an energy surplus, not a deficit.

This slideshow from WebMD contains some simple tips on how to maximize energy through diet. Aside from these energy-rich foods, it is more important to simply maintain adequate energy stores so that you do not hit the wall mid-day, or worse…mid-flight. Eat foods high in complex carbs (70% of your diet) up to 24 hours prior to a demanding flight to ensure glycogen stores are close to maximized. As described above, it is unlikely any sortie would sustain such a high level of exercise for long enough to burn thru all of glycogen stores when fully saturated. Time your meals up to 3 hours prior to takeoff as it will generally take this amount of time for your stomach to empty its contents and allow these nutrients to be available for energy conversion. If you are in need of a faster energy boost, focus on simple sugars generally found in sports drinks and fruit. Hydration is also important as water is a necessary ingredient in the body’s biochemistry to convert glycogen into instant energy. After the sortie, more simple sugars may help you get thru a long complex debrief.

Mozart’s Brain & The Fighter Pilot

Take Mental Activity Breaks

One fact that may win you a Jeopardy title someday is that the brain makes up only 2% of the body’s total weight, but consumes 20% of its total energy. The food source of the human brain is glucose. Glucose is derived from the breakdown of glycogen (carbs) and fat tissue. Because nerve cells lack the ability to store glucose, the brain is dependent on a constant blood supply rich in sugar to meet its metabolic needs. A supply of oxygen is also required for efficient energy production. This is why when blood flow is cut off to the brain for even several seconds, such as when exposed to high G-forces, one loses consciousness. For a deeper discussion on G-LOC & AGSM, see here.

The body tightly regulates sugar levels in the brain. If you maintain proper nutrition, any chance of sugar levels low enough to affect cognitive function should be negligible. On the other hand, tasks that require high levels of mental workload potentiate any underlying fatigue. This means higher chance for errors and decreased performance. Scheduled activity breaks have been tested in high fidelity flight simulators and demonstrated improved performance following a 7-minute activity break.₃ This effect was especially strong during times when the circadian rhythm was at its lowest. Activity breaks may be more effective combined with physical activity. Although a 7-minute mental checkout during a combat sortie would be dangerous, even a minute or two between sets could potentially be helpful. A better suggestion may be to build a short activity break into your timeline between an especially demanding brief and flight operations. Use your time between end-of-brief and time-to-step for an intentional break to relax and gather your mental faculties for the time they will be most required.

Get Adequate Sleep

Duh. But, do you know how many hours are adequate sleep is for you? If you want to find out, next time you are on leave for at least a week, sleep without an alarm clock. Go to sleep when you began to feel sleepy at night. After 3-4 nights of doing so, you should have erased any pre-existing sleep debt. Now, repeat the experiment, noting the time you initiate sleep and the time you naturally awake. The amount of sleep that your body naturally sleeps in the absence of any sleep debt is your sleep requirement. This is normally 7-9 hours. If your sleep volume is outside this range, you’re odd. Once you’ve identified the amount of sleep you need, make it your goal to get this amount of sleep, ESPECIALLY on nights preceding flight operations. Know that if you are getting less than this amount, you WILL suffer from measurable performance deficits. Have available ear plugs or sleep masks when needing to sleep when the rest of the world is awake and active.

Dealing with Sleep Debt

As mentioned above, it is always better to avoid sleep debt by getting a MINIMUM of 7 hours/night. If you know your body requires a higher amount of nightly sleep, that should be your target. Keep a mental log of your nightly hours of sleep. If you begin to develop a cumulative debt, build more sleep into your schedule. The typical person can erase a sleep debt with only 1/3 of the accumulated debt. For example, if you require 8 hours sleep/night and sleep only 6 hours for 3 consecutive nights, you have developed a debt of 6 hours (2 hours x 3 nights). The sooner you get an additional 2 hours of sleep (added to your required nightly 8 hours), the sooner you will be out of the red and performing optimally. If you can’t make this happen throughout the week, use your weekends to erase this debt. Although the utility of banking sleep is often debated, one study showed that after a week of extended sleep periods followed by sleep restriction, performance and alertness improved, while recovery was faster than individuals without ‘banked sleep’ hours.

Get High Quality Sleep

Sleep is divided into Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep and REM sleep. NREM sleep is further divided into 4 progressively deeper stages of sleep. During a typical 8-hour sleep period, these stages progress sequentially in 90 minute cycles. This equates to approximately 4-6 total cycles for a full night’s rest.

It is important that you experience all of the above stages and cycles of sleep. If your ‘sleep architecture’ is distorted, you will likely not feel fully rested upon waking and will suffer similar performance degradation as sleep deprivation. This is not meant to be a brief on sleep hygiene. If you have no idea what I even mean by ‘sleep hygiene’, you can read some of the basic tips offered by the Sleep Foundation. Basically, avoid food/alcohol/caffeine before bedtime and exercise earlier in the day so that your body has a greater need for sleep. Trying to sleep during a circadian rhythm mismatch is more difficult and is covered below.

Schedule Smarter

COMBATING FATIGUE – MITIGATING STRATEGIES

Take a Nap

Unlike your bros in the business of long-haul heavy aircraft, cockpit or in-flight bunk napping are not options for the modern fighter pilot. NASA published a study in which short cockpit naps (average nap was 26 minutes) was associated with significant improvements in psychomotor performance and alertness.₅ When you have identified underlying fatigue, sleep debt, or sleep deprivation; a short nap before briefs or flight operations may significantly improve performance. A strategic ‘power nap’ can also serve as effective strategies to improve performance when involuntary placed into a circadian disturbance, such as jet lag or working nights. Try not to nap so long that you awake from a deeper stage of sleep in which grogginess can degrade performance for almost an hour. If you do not have significant sleep debt accumulated, keep naps / Blog Posts / flight medicine / Military Aviation Medicine / pilot performance

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Rocky ‘Apollo’ Jedick is a board-certified Emergency Medicine doctor, Senior Flight Surgeon in the USAFR, FAA Senior Aviation Medical Examiner and owner/editor of Go Flight Medicine LLC.

How to Prevent Pilot Fatigue: Tips Before Take-Off

Pilots need to be well rested to be able to focus on their flights. Before being able to legally fly a plane pilots must realize the condition they are in before take-off. If a pilot isn’t well rested this can be one of the biggest threats to passengers and other pilots in the air. Being rested is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your passengers safety.

We understand that pilots tend to go through many time changes and long flights, so rest may not be on the top of a pilot’s mind. Because fatigue will only get worse as you fly through the air we want to be sure you take a few preventative measures. To help combat your fatigue follow 6 tips we have provided below for you!

1. Water, Water, Water

Being dehydrated, especially in the air is not good for you! You are much more likely to become dehydrated in the cockpit of the plane than on the ground, so be certain you drink plenty of water. Avoiding water will make pilot fatigue that much worse, so be certain to soak it up!

Follow your own rules on drinking water. If you feel thirsty – drink! If you don’t feel thirsty – still drink! Avoid sugary drinks such as sodas in the air as those will make your dehydration worse.

2. Eat the Right Foods

We are sure you’ve always been told, food gives you fuel, and the right fuel gives you energy. You want to be sure that you are eating when you need to, but also eating the right foods. As a pilot you want to be sure you are eating the right amount at the right times.

Eating healthy is one of the best ways to put proper fuel into your body. We understand how difficult it can be to avoid processed and over sugary foods on the go, but healthy foods will keep you more alert and energized than quick rushes of sugar. Since life as a pilot is demanding and rigorous you want to be sure you give your body the right amount of food. Focus on eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Directly before a flight it is smart to eat foods that contain high complex carbohydrates. These foods can include pasta, lentils, potatoes, beans, and oats.

3. Don’t Drink Too Much Caffeine

Who doesn’t love a good cup of coffee or tea to start their morning? But you need to be careful how much caffeine you are consuming as it often leads to sleep deprivation. You want your coffee and tea intake to be a boost for you during the day, not something you depend on to make it every day.

We know that it can be easy to start depending on caffeinated drinks such as soda and energy drinks, but the high sugar in these will often lead you to have a mental crash. Stick to your main caffeine boosts like tea, coffee, and chocolate (preferably dark chocolate).

4. Exercise

Staying in shape as a pilot while constantly moving around can be difficult. It’s so much easier to just grab a snack in the airport and go. But by exercising you can keep your fatigue down during flights and your energy levels high.

Do your best to up your on-the-go workout routines. While you may not always have a gym handy you can do exercises that don’t require weights and can be done in your hotel room!

5. Sleep Consistently

AeroGuard understands that consistent sleep is not easy for anyone, especially a pilot. Traveling to different time zones can take a toll on your sleep schedule, but it is important that you continuously get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. While this is easier said than done we have a few tips to help you do this.

Even if you need to catch up on sleep during the day it is important to try and block out any distractions. Getting proper sleep is necessary to your health and performance as a pilot.

6. Take Advantage of Naps

Remember as a child when your guardians forced you to take naps and how much you hated it? Well now you will love naps and want to take advantage of them as much as possible! A 20-30-minute map is all you need to help fight pilot fatigue. A short burst of rest will help to improve alertness in your day.

However, you want to be sure your nap isn’t too long. Sleeping more than 30 minutes can lead to being groggier and more fatigued than when you set your head on that pillow.

In Conclusion: