Boeing study will help industry better understand pilot fatigue By Bret Jensen and photos by Marian Lockhart BOEING FRONTIERS / MAY 2013 39 When customer airline pilots visit Boeing, the company usually rolls out the red car-pet. But for the next 18 months, Delta pilots will be strapping into a simulator and taping wires to their heads. The wires are all part of a study to better understand the impact of pilot fatigue on commercial flight operations. Volunteer two-pilot crews from Delta Air Lines—32 crews in all—will perform simulated flights under rested and fatigued conditions in the Seattle study. The research will help Boeing determine if technologies exist that can detect symptoms of fatigue in real time before it affects pilot performance. “The fact that Boeing is doing something about this issue and trying to put together a study is really exciting,” said Delta pilot Stan King. A “One Boeing” team from across the enterprise devised the test methods and will analyze the data once the study is complete. The project is managed by the Commercial Airplanes Flight Deck Product Development group with help from Boeing Research & Technology mathematicians and statisticians. There are also adviser “The fact that Boeing is doing something about this issue and trying to put together a study is really exciting.” – Stan King, pilot, Delta Air Lines PHOTOS: Close-ups of sensor arrays attached to Boeing test pilots Harry Westcott, left, and Brian Behrend as they prepare for a long flight in the simulator. The sensors, part of a Boeing–Delta Air Lines joint study on the impact of fatigue on pilots, monitor their bodies’ reaction to the lengthy trip. WIRED
Frontiers May 2013 Issue
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