Dec 24 1980
From The Space Library
NASA said that ARC had begun a study of the effect on airline pilots of irregular work schedules and sleep patterns and frequent crossing of time zones. Studies of animals and humans showed that reduced performance, short-term memory lapses, loss of attentiveness and alertness, and fatigue were results of "circadian desynchronosis" (jet lag), the disturbance of 24-hour biological rhythms, especially sleep cycles. Previous research was on shift workers, truckers, ship crews, and railroad engineers, but little on airline crews.
A workshop last August for airline, research, and FAA personnel agreed on pilot fatigue as a problem but could not agree on its magnitude. A group of life scientists checked reports from NASAs safety reporting system for events possibly related to fatigue; another group reviewed scientific literature to prepare a bibliography on jet lag in lay terms and distribute it to the aviation community. ARC would also do a field study on dietary, sleep, rest, and drug use patterns of commercial airline crews and study altered sleep and nutrition patterns in its simulation facilities. (NASA Release 80-197)
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