Napping pilots

All the airline talk the last couple of days is about a couple of Northwest Airlines pilots that “weren’t asleep” when they overflew the destination by 150 odd miles. The guys were on a fairly short flight about half way across the US, and yet all signs other than their denials point to them nodding off at just the time their attention was needed most. It seems there is a pretty clear case for letting pilots take a nap at times while the planes are on cruise control:

International carriers including Air France, British Airways and Qantas allow pilots to nap, but sleeping while flying is prohibited at U.S. airlines by the Federal Aviation Administration. Just last month, the Air Transport Association again pressed the FAA to allow controlled cockpit napping, citing NASA research that found a mid-flight snooze significantly reduces the risks of overall pilot fatigue.
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The NASA study begun in 1989 allowed one group of pilots flying across the Pacific to take a 25-minute nap while their co-pilots flew the planes, while a control group was required to remain awake for the entire flight. Those without the naps nodded off five times as much — including while on the approach to the airport — as those who got some sleep.

This seems a bit silly. While I don’t like the thought of my pilot sleeping while were in the air, it only makes sense that on long flights in a dark, quiet cockpit, there is a good chance that someone will doze off. You might as well plan it so that sleep when the plane is cruising along just fine rather than when it should be landing.

The whole incident leaves me wondering just how many times my pilots have fallen asleep on a flight. It is a bit unnerving to think about.