"...And we were tired": fatigue and aircrew errors

Cooper, White, and Lauber (quoted in C.E. Billings and W.D. Reynard, 1984) analyzed jet-transport accidents worldwide for the period 1968 to 1976 and found more than 60 in which breakdowns of the crew performance and decision-making process played a pivotal role. The author of the present work argues that the results reported by Cooper et al. are related to fatigue and that fatigue is related to sleep deprivation, circadian desynchronosis, and lack of good nutrition. It is further argued, and supporting research is cited, that fatigue does not cause loss of skill in flying the aircraft but may have disastrous effects on judgmental and decision-making functions.<
>