Investigators cite pilot fatigue among reasons that a FedEx plane landed on the wrong runway
Investigators say pilot fatigue contributed to an incident in which a FedEx plane landed on the wrong runway after an overnight flight
Safety investigators say pilot fatigue was a factor why a FedEx plane landed on the wrong runway after an overnight cargo flight last year.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots failed to recognize cues that they heading for the wrong runway because of fatigue, the early-morning timing and an increased workload.
The safety board, in a report released Thursday, also faulted an an air traffic controller for failing to track the plane after clearing the pilots to land at Tulsa International Airport in Oklahoma. The controller missed the chance to tell the pilots they were off-course, the NTSB said.
Fatigue has long been a concern of safety advocates, and there are federal rules regarding the length of work day and rest rest requirements for pilots. There was no suggestion in the NTSB's final report that the pilots exceeded those limits during a shift that began in Ontario, California, and included a stop shortly after midnight in Fort Worth, Texas.
FedEx uses something called the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale when setting flight schedules. The scale indicated that the pilots' schedule that night was just under the threshold for high risk, assuming that they napped between flights.
FedEx, however, didn't tell pilots they were expected to nap because, a manager told NTSB, the company worried about “overburdening flight crews with additional information.”
The first officer, or co-pilot, slept for 30 minutes after landing in Fort Worth. The captain told investigators he tried to nap but couldn’t. He said, however, that he didn’t feel fatigued.
The NTSB concluded that even
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