Narrative:

All nighters? This trip departed my home base an hour late. Scheduled arrival was an hour late. Crew contacted hotel as soon as possible upon landing in order to arrive promptly due to limited time on overnight. The hotel van did not arrive until well after midnight and the crew arrived late at hotel. By the time we fell asleep it was at least a half hour after hotel arrival. I personally set my alarm clock to wake three hours and twenty minutes later. Forty minutes after that we departed for the airport for a take off to our home base fifty minutes after arriving at the airport. This was a minimum overnight made shorter due to a late van. Additionally; I had an all nighter the day before which departed nearly two hours before midnight and the crew arrived in their hotel past midnight; slept for about 3 hours and departed the hotel for this departure to our home base. I flew a transcontinental flight with an early morning departure and arrived at its destination for a 14 hour lay over and departed that day from the hotel at shortly before midnight to fly an all nighter back to his home base. I am on reserve and have been called out for 3 consecutive trips which were all; all nighters; which seldom go right. Two days off after these 3 consecutive all nighters. The second day off in the early evening scheduling called me to fly on my day off for a 3 day trip. I could not do this due to 'fatigue' and had congested lungs; sore throat; and loss of voice. Therefore; the two days off I had were barely enough to recover from flying 3 all nighters with minimum rest. 'Fatigue'. This is no excuse but fact. Reviewing this schedule of events; how can any pilot cope with anything that would be out of the norm when they can barely operate correctly during normal flight with minimum rest. Flying to our home base on the first 'all nighter'; I noticed the non-flying pilot asleep as we were being vectored for the approach. I realized at that time how tired he was and struggling to keep his eyes open. Fatigue is a major factor at this air carrier but pilots seldom call in with this excuse for various reasons. It may be taken and probably will be as a 'job action' by the carrier and additionally scheduling will dock the pilots hourly pay accordingly. This is an accident waiting to happen and must be addressed as soon as possible! Pilots; particularly pilots that are employed working for high stress aviation companies need the rest required to do their job properly and being alert at all times. Lacking this will only lead to another accident. Realizing fatigue can be brought on by the pilot themselves is one thing; and should be handled correctly by a responsible pilot; but 'fatigue' caused by the scheduling of an operator and abuse of their reserve pilots is no excuse; and not in control by the pilot due to 'working pressures' of his company!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Reserve Air Carrier Captain described the sequence of late night check in; minimum rest overnight trips followed by an early morning check in for a transcontinental flight after which he called in fatigued.

Narrative: All Nighters? This trip departed my home base an hour late. Scheduled arrival was an hour late. Crew contacted hotel ASAP upon landing in order to arrive promptly due to limited time on overnight. The hotel van did not arrive until well after midnight and the crew arrived late at hotel. By the time we fell asleep it was at least a half hour after hotel arrival. I personally set my alarm clock to wake three hours and twenty minutes later. Forty minutes after that we departed for the airport for a take off to our home base fifty minutes after arriving at the airport. This was a minimum overnight made shorter due to a late van. Additionally; I had an all nighter the day before which departed nearly two hours before midnight and the crew arrived in their hotel past midnight; slept for about 3 hours and departed the hotel for this departure to our home base. I flew a transcontinental flight with an early morning departure and arrived at its destination for a 14 hour lay over and departed that day from the hotel at shortly before midnight to fly an all nighter back to his home base. I am on reserve and have been called out for 3 consecutive trips which were all; all nighters; which seldom go right. Two days off after these 3 consecutive all nighters. The second day off in the early evening scheduling called me to fly on my day off for a 3 day trip. I could not do this due to 'Fatigue' and had congested lungs; sore throat; and loss of voice. Therefore; the two days off I had were barely enough to recover from flying 3 all nighters with minimum rest. 'FATIGUE'. This is no excuse but fact. Reviewing this schedule of events; how can any pilot cope with anything that would be out of the norm when they can barely operate correctly during normal flight with minimum rest. Flying to our home base on the first 'All Nighter'; I noticed the Non-Flying pilot asleep as we were being vectored for the approach. I realized at that time how tired he was and struggling to keep his eyes open. Fatigue is a major factor at this Air Carrier but pilots seldom call in with this excuse for various reasons. It may be taken and probably will be as a 'Job Action' by the carrier and additionally scheduling will dock the pilots hourly pay accordingly. This is an accident waiting to happen and must be addressed ASAP! Pilots; particularly pilots that are employed working for high stress aviation companies need the rest required to do their job properly and being alert at all times. Lacking this will only lead to another accident. Realizing fatigue can be brought on by the pilot themselves is one thing; and should be handled correctly by a responsible pilot; but 'Fatigue' caused by the scheduling of an operator and abuse of their Reserve Pilots is no excuse; and not in control by the pilot due to 'Working Pressures' of his company!

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.