Large transport flight crew on overnight scheduled flight fall asleep en route. No problems develop.

Attributes
ACN	339540
Time
Date	199606
Day	Wed
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zlc
State Reference	UT
Altitude	msl bound lower : 37000 msl bound upper : 37000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zlc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 180 flight time total : 4000 flight time type : 500
ASRS Report	339540
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Scheduled by air carrier to fly dtw-sea-msp, departing dtw at late night, arrival sea after midnight, departure sea dawn, arrival msp early am. Tried to prepare for 'back side of clock' flying by shortening my sleep the night before trip and napping in the afternoon before flight, but was only able to actually sleep for about an hour. Left 40 mins late for sea, felt ok in sea, just a little tired. But 1 1/2 - 2 hours out of msp, started nodding off to sleep. Looked over to find first officer asleep also. This same pattern was scheduled by our company throughout the whole month of june/xx/96, and repeated a couple more times in july. Continuation of flight was uneventful.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LGT FLC ON OVERNIGHT SCHEDULED FLT FALL ASLEEP ENRTE. NO PROBS DEVELOP.

Narrative: SCHEDULED BY ACR TO FLY DTW-SEA-MSP, DEPARTING DTW AT LATE NIGHT, ARR SEA AFTER MIDNIGHT, DEP SEA DAWN, ARR MSP EARLY AM. TRIED TO PREPARE FOR 'BACK SIDE OF CLOCK' FLYING BY SHORTENING MY SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE TRIP AND NAPPING IN THE AFTERNOON BEFORE FLT, BUT WAS ONLY ABLE TO ACTUALLY SLEEP FOR ABOUT AN HR. LEFT 40 MINS LATE FOR SEA, FELT OK IN SEA, JUST A LITTLE TIRED. BUT 1 1/2 - 2 HRS OUT OF MSP, STARTED NODDING OFF TO SLEEP. LOOKED OVER TO FIND FO ASLEEP ALSO. THIS SAME PATTERN WAS SCHEDULED BY OUR COMPANY THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MONTH OF JUNE/XX/96, AND REPEATED A COUPLE MORE TIMES IN JULY. CONTINUATION OF FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.