AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2018 - 104

NEWS & NOTES

AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE

Fatigue-it's no yawning matter
A look at feeling sleepy, being tired, and flying
BY MACHTELD SMITH

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT LACK

of good sleep and being tired?
You should be. Being fatigued can
impair memory, judgment, concentration, vision, and coordination.
A study published in Nature magazine showed people who stay awake
for 17 to 19 hours without rest function at a level similar to those with
a blood-alcohol content of 0.05 percent-beyond the legal limit for flying
in the United States.
An overwhelming desire to
sleep is the most pronounced
symptom of fatigue. Consult your
physician, especially if you experience excessive snoring, difficulty
concentrating/remembering, the
need to take frequent naps during
the day, headaches, and irritability. These symptoms may indicate
obstructive sleep apnea, which is
characterized as a repetitive upperairway obstruction during sleep.
104 | AOPA PILOT August 2018

The key to recognizing and combating fatigue is self-assessment-knowing
your personal signs of fatigue, actively
looking out for them, and making safe
decisions. If you're on the ground, it's
probably wise to stay there. If you're
airborne, do what you can to remain
alert and consider diverting to a nearby
airport-if you're already starting to nod
off, it's simple: Get the airplane on the
ground as soon as practical.
Want to learn more? Review the
AOPA Air Safety Institute's Fighting
Fatigue Safety Advisor (www.air
safetyinstitute.org/safetyadvisors/
fightingfatigue), which examines
factors leading to fatigue. The advisor also provides tips on how to keep
fatigue from catching up with you in
the cockpit and steps you can take to
deal with it.
MACHTELD SMITH is an aviation technical

writer for the AOPA Air Safety Institute.

NEW FROM ASI
AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE
OFFERS NEW FALL SEMINAR
WEATHER IS OFTEN BLAMED as the cause of
accidents when, in reality, it's poor decision
making that's the culprit. The go/no-go
decision-making process starts long before
entering the cockpit. But the right choice at
a crucial moment before or during a flight
can be difficult to make. When you attend
the AOPA Air Safety Institute's new "ASI
Investigates: Weather Accidents" seminar
you'll learn:
* Why getting the big weather picture is
important.
* How to improve your go/no-go decisionmaking process.
* Tips to "weatherize" your mindset and
avoid traps such as flying VFR into IMC.
* Why technology can be a great tool and
your worst enemy in weather flying.
Starting at the crash scene and working
backwards, you'll step into the shoes of an
accident investigator and examine accidents
in which weather played a role. ASI's expert
presenters will guide the discussion about
what went wrong, why, and how to avoid
making the same mistakes.
Invite your pilot friends to join you at the
90-minute seminar and learn from the best.
You can even fly yourself to the event. The
seminar schedule identifies if a seminar is
held at an aviation-themed location or an
airport or both (www.airsafetyinstitute.org/
seminars).

ROUND OUT YOUR SURVIVAL
SKILLSET WITH EXPERT ADVICE
YOU'VE JUST MADE AN UNPLANNED, offairport landing. Thanks to your training you
calmly coped with a developing in-flight
emergency and successfully landed the
airplane. But now what? Have you been
adequately prepared for what happens next?
A little knowledge on what to do after
a forced landing can go a long way. In
the AOPA Air Safety Institute's Survive:
Beyond the Forced Landing video (www.
airsafetyinstitute.org/videos/survive),
aviation experts share what actions you can
take to keep everyone safe until help arrives.
You'll get tips on survival kit essentials and
how to reduce the time it takes to get found.
Learn why you and your passengers should
be dressed to match the climate and terrain
you will be overflying to be prepared for
conditions other than those expected at
your departure and arrival points.

http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/seminars http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/seminars http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/safetyadvisors/fightingfatigue http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/safetyadvisors/fightingfatigue http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/videos/survive http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/safetyadvisors/fightingfatigue http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/videos/survive

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2018

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