An B767 captain fell asleep in flight because his domestic protected time was opposite the internati...

Narrative:

Crew fell asleep momentarily during cruise. Aware of this as a result of knowing a position report was coming up nodding then realizing we were past point by a minute or two. Captain called out while on short reserve. He had been awake since xa:00. As a result of call out he went over 24 hours prior to crew rest. As captain and non flying pilot at this time I have learned a lot. I recently refused a similar assignment for fatigue knowing I was unable to perform my duties safely. I was charged a personal day even though I had been on duty 13 of my 15 hours as a short call. Unfortunately this time I allowed the pressure by the company to mark it personal and dock my pay to influence my decision. I took the assignment and flew; resulting in falling asleep momentarily and surely operating at less than acceptable levels of safety. It is impossible as a short call reserve to be rested for all situations. If I had rested in afternoon just in case of a flight assignment then I would have been unable to rest during my protected time (pt) for assignment the next day. Legal does not mean safe. We need designated international reserves. Although no incident occurred; the awareness of its possibility is clear now.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An B767 Captain fell asleep in flight because his domestic protected time was opposite the international flight departure he was involuntarily assigned so his awake time exceeded twenty four hours. Previously refusing an international trip fatigued cost him a day's pay.

Narrative: Crew fell asleep momentarily during cruise. Aware of this as a result of knowing a position report was coming up nodding then realizing we were past point by a minute or two. Captain called out while on short reserve. He had been awake since XA:00. As a result of call out he went over 24 hours prior to crew rest. As Captain and non flying pilot at this time I have learned a lot. I recently refused a similar assignment for fatigue knowing I was unable to perform my duties safely. I was charged a personal day even though I had been on duty 13 of my 15 hours as a short call. Unfortunately this time I allowed the pressure by the company to mark it personal and dock my pay to influence my decision. I took the assignment and flew; resulting in falling asleep momentarily and surely operating at less than acceptable levels of safety. It is impossible as a short call reserve to be rested for all situations. If I had rested in afternoon just in case of a flight assignment then I would have been unable to rest during my protected time (PT) for assignment the next day. LEGAL does not mean safe. We need designated INTERNATIONAL reserves. Although no incident occurred; the awareness of its possibility is clear now.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	956799
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Oceanic
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

An B767 captain fell asleep in flight because his domestic protected time was opposite the international flight departure he was involuntarily assigned so his awake time exceeded twenty four hours. Previously refusing an international trip fatigued cost him a day's pay.