SLEEPINESS OF CIVIL AIRLINE PILOTS DURING 2 CONSECUTIVE NIGHT FLIGHTSOF EXTENDED DURATION

Sleepiness of civil airline pilots was studied in a two-crew cockpit d uring two consecutive night flights of about 10 h duration each. Sleep iness was assessed by EEG recordings and subjective ratings during hou rly recurrent short experimental phases. On the second night flight, t he alertness component that is related to the preceding sleep showed a modification due to reduced quality and quantity of sleep between fli ghts. The daytime sleep during layover was not sufficient to maintain the same alertness level as observed during the initial flight. This r esult is in coincidence with investigations in shift workers starting a period of night shifts. It is concluded that improvements such as th e introduction of a nap schedule should be considered to alleviate spo ntaneous sleepiness in the cockpit.