“UPS said its rules are
within FAA requirements, and that it had a FAA-mandated fatigue risk management
program.” And we know how much UPS abuse rules, regulations and requirements.
Anyone spot a
contradiction between the statements below.
UPS pilots complained of
fatigue before fatal crash
By Mike Ahlers, CNN
February 20,
2014 -- Updated 2158 GMT (0558 HKT)
(CNN) -- Before boarding the
last flight of his life, UPS cargo pilot Capt. Cerea Beal Jr. confided to a
colleague: "These schedules over the past several years are killing
me."
Just before takeoff, his
co-pilot also expressed concern about fatigue.
In a conversation
captured by the cockpit voice recorder, First Officer Shanda Fanning told Beal
that she had just gotten a "good sleep," but she was still "so
tired."
Both Beal, 58, and
Fanning, 37, died last August when their plane, an Airbus A300, crashed just
short of the Birmingham, Alabama, airport just before dawn.
Details of the
conversations were revealed Thursday during a National Transportation Safety
Board public hearing.
The board released
documents around its investigation and heard testimony from UPS officials,
pilots, and other experts.
Until Thursday, the
issue of fatigue had received little attention in the UPS accident.
But with the release of
the cockpit transcript and interview records, the crash of UPS flight 1354 is
now part of one of the hottest debates in commercial aviation: pilot rest.
'One level of safety'
In January, the Federal
Aviation Administration enacted new rest rules for all airline pilots. But the
rule excludes cargo crew.
Cargo pilots say the FAA
should have "one level of safety" for all pilots -- a sentiment
expressed in the doomed cockpit -- and say government and industry should place
the same value to cargo pilot's life that they give to airline pilot and passenger
lives.
Cargo pilots have
special rest needs, they say, because they typically fly "on the back side
of the clock" -- at night -- which raises havoc with sleep rhythms and
contributes to fatigue.
UPS argues that it gives
pilots ample opportunity to sleep, that it has a non-punitive system for pilots
who say they are too tired to fly, and that work hours have been largely
negotiated with the pilots' union.
Finally, they stress
that pilots share responsibility that they get adequate rest and are fit to
fly.
Cockpit conversations
Even though the NTSB is
months away from determining the probable cause of the accident, the rest issue
erupted in full Thursday.
It was raised, in this
case, by the ill-fated pilots themselves, their haunting words captured on the
cockpit voice recorder.
As the plane cruised
toward Birmingham,
Beal noted the two-person crew would have two extra hours off-the-clock on the
ground, and pointed out their rest period during a previous leg was cut short
by a 30-minute ride to the hotel.
"This is where, ah,
the passenger side (passenger airline pilots) ... they're gonna make out,"
he said.
"I mean I don't get
that. You know, it should be one level of safety for everybody," he said.
Fanning agreed.
"It should be
across the board to be honest. In my opinion, whether you are flying passengers
or cargo or, you know, box of chocolates at night, if you're flying this time
of day..." she said.
"The, you know,
fatigue is definitely," she added, her voice becoming unintelligible.
"I was out and
slept today. I slept in Rockford.
I slept good," she said. "And I was out in that sleep room and when
my alarm went off, I mean, I'm thinkin' 'I'm so tired,'" she said.
"I know," Beal
responded, saying cargo companies "got a lot of nerve."
'They told us'
The union representing
the 2,600 pilots who fly for UPS took note of the cockpit conversation.
"Pilots rarely get
to speak for themselves from beyond the grave in these cases," said Brian
Gaudet, a spokesman for the Independent Pilots Association.
"I'm going to take
their word at face value. They told us what was going on at the beginning of
that flight," he said.
UPS said its rules are within FAA requirements, and that
it had a FAA-mandated fatigue risk management program.
A typical UPS pilot is
on duty 70 hours a month, and flies less than half of that time.
UPS said both crew
members were coming off extended time off. The captain had been off for eight
days before beginning his final trip, and the first officer had flown just two
of the previous 10 days.
Beal had flown 41 hours
in the previous 30 days; Fanning had flown 31.
UPS representative Capt.
Jon Snyder said that "a majority" of the company's flights occur at
night, so the company can keep its commitment to deliver packages by 10 a.m.
"That's the nature
of the business," he said.
Last year, he said,
pilots flew 123,000 flights, and on 138 occasions called in to report they were
too tired to fly.
In 96 cases, the company determined that the pilot was
within his or her rights, and in 42 cases it deducted days from their sick days
after concluding the pilots could have managed their rest periods better.
IPA representative Lauri
Esposito said pilots are reluctant to call in tired.
"Members view it (the company's response) as being
punitive; they get dinged for it."
At the hearing, experts
testified Beal and Fanning missed numerous cues that the plane was descending
too rapidly.
NTSB investigator in
charge Dan Bower said he has found no indication that the plane had mechanical
problems.
Democratic legislation
proposed last year in the Senate proposes to align rest rules for cargo pilots
with those of their passenger airline counterparts.
