Narrative:

The crew (all four) had been assigned to this trip for several days. I received no notification from the captain of a break schedule different than a 50/50 split - as recent guidance has suggested. Normally if I am told that I will have a short 1st break (less than 5 hours) as the relief first officer (international relief officer); I take a nap before the night time departure. In the absence of such notification I did not take a nap.at operations I became aware that the flying captain and first officer (first officer) had just arrived shortly before show time and had not taken a nap. During flight planning the captain did not discuss breaks and left for the airplane saying 'he had to make a phone call.'boarding went quickly and we were pressed to push back early; still hadn't discussed breaks.during climb out the captain turned to me and asked if I was figuring out the breaks - he said the relief crew will have a 4 hour break first break. I mentioned that I had no notification of a split break schedule and wasn't prepared for a short break. He said he doesn't do that anymore (notifying the crew). Then he said we should just go back and he would figure the breaks.it took me awhile to fall asleep and it wasn't a good sleep. I was asleep when the flying pilots woke me up for a crew changeover (approximately 3.5 hours after I had laid down to sleep). I think I may have gotten about 2 hours of sleep.I felt quite tired when getting back into the cockpit and this did not improve after drinking coffee and getting up for several bathroom breaks. At one point I caught myself doing a 'head bob' and looked over to see that the relief captain's eyes were closed. It was extremely difficult to stay awake for the 7.5 hour shift as the 'flying pilots' took their break - with such a short inflight break before resuming duties on the flight deck and a flight in complete darkness/nighttime. Both the relief captain and I noticed that we were having trouble speaking. The noticeable fatigue became worse with every hour until we were relieved after 7.5 hours on the flight deck.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Relief Pilot reported being fatigued enroute due to a short rest period in flight due to a breakdown of CRM.

Narrative: The crew (all four) had been assigned to this trip for several days. I received no notification from the Captain of a break schedule different than a 50/50 split - as recent guidance has suggested. Normally if I am told that I will have a short 1st break (less than 5 hours) as the Relief First Officer (IRO); I take a nap before the night time departure. In the absence of such notification I did not take a nap.At operations I became aware that the flying Captain and First Officer (FO) had just arrived shortly before show time and had not taken a nap. During flight planning the Captain did not discuss breaks and left for the airplane saying 'he had to make a phone call.'Boarding went quickly and we were pressed to push back early; still hadn't discussed breaks.During climb out the Captain turned to me and asked if I was figuring out the breaks - he said the relief crew will have a 4 hour break first break. I mentioned that I had no notification of a split break schedule and wasn't prepared for a short break. He said he doesn't do that anymore (notifying the crew). Then he said we should just go back and he would figure the breaks.It took me awhile to fall asleep and it wasn't a good sleep. I was asleep when the flying pilots woke me up for a crew changeover (approximately 3.5 hours after I had laid down to sleep). I think I may have gotten about 2 hours of sleep.I felt quite tired when getting back into the cockpit and this did not improve after drinking coffee and getting up for several bathroom breaks. At one point I caught myself doing a 'head bob' and looked over to see that the relief Captain's eyes were closed. It was extremely difficult to stay awake for the 7.5 hour shift as the 'flying pilots' took their break - with such a short inflight break before resuming duties on the flight deck and a flight in complete darkness/nighttime. Both the relief Captain and I noticed that we were having trouble speaking. The noticeable fatigue became worse with every hour until we were relieved after 7.5 hours on the flight deck.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.