Both Pilots Asleep At Controls Of Packed Passenger Jet

[cavanami]

Hey, you have a few drinks, enjoy and meal...of course you get sleepy! WTF!!!

 

Both Pilots Asleep At Controls of Packed Passenger Jet

 

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/both-pilots-asleep-controls-packed-passenger-jet-172820727--abc-news-topstories.html

 

Two pilots flying a commercial airliner filled with passengers were both asleep at the controls last month, leaving the jet on autopilot for an unknown amount of time, British aviation authorities said.

Authorities have not released the names of the pilots or the airline, but disclosed that the incident took place in August aboard an Airbus A330, capable of carrying up to 350 passengers, operated by a British-based airline.

The pilots came clean to authorities on their own, reporting the incident to their airline and the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority.

The pilots said they had received little sleep over two nights due to busy flight schedules and planned to rotate taking 20-minute naps, but they discovered they had both fallen asleep at the same time.

A pilot reported "both members of flight crew had only 5 hrs sleep in two nights due to longer duty period with insufficient opportunity to sleep," according to a report by the CAA...

[dean]

I know that there are different rules for crews of major airlines and regional airlines, but 5 hours sleep over 2 days? Something tells me that a major part of this story isn't being told.

[SpiceMan]

You could be right Dean.

 

Then again, I found flying planes to be boring. The only interesting bit is take off and approach to airfield. Cars and motorcycles are much more interesting to control.

[dean]

I had an uncle fly for TWA from just after WWII to around 1980, when he hit 60 years old. By the time that I knew him, he had enough seniority to fly US - Europe routes. I specifically remember when my older brother got married, he would be breathing a bottle of pure oxygen, which supposedly got rid of much of the balance of alcohol in his system, as he was flying later that day. For the BM's that are pilots, did this actually work?

[TroyinEwa/Perv]

I am not a pilot but I can tell you that nothing removes alcohol from your system except time.

[dean]

By the time he would have reported for work, at least 16 hours would have passed. So, breathing oxygen would not burn up any of the possible remaining alcohol? Maybe, it was just to help with the hangover.

[cavanami]

To get rid of the alcohol you drank...

 

Sweat and exercise, drink water by the bucket full, eat food with lots of carbs...tough it out, after all that

[SpiceMan]

My paramedic friend, when staying over night after a party, offered my guests intra-venous fluids in the morning (water with salts via a drip into the arm).

 

Nobody was hungover enough to take him up on the offer. We are having another party in 2 weeks so who knows what will happen.

[JaiRai]

When people show up at the hospital seriously fucked up (eg, excessively drunk) it's standard to treat them with an IV drip to keep them hydrated, also to keep blood sugar levels safe. Never heard of it removing alcohol from their system quicker - more to mitigate side effects and other possible complications.

[SpiceMan]

Yes, the IV is a "top notch hangover cure". Not because it removes alcohol from the body but because it makes you feel much better.