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Duty hours and incidents in flight among commercial airline pilots

O'Hagan, Anna Donnla orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-7509-8960, Issartel, Johann orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1016-1409, Fletcher, Richard and Warrington, Giles orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-6473-3607 (2016) Duty hours and incidents in flight among commercial airline pilots. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 22 (2). pp. 165-172. ISSN 1080-3548

Abstract
Introduction. Working long duty hours has often been associated with increased risk of incidents and accidents in transport industries. Despite this, information regarding the intermediate relationship between duty hours and incident risk is limited. This study aimed to test a work hours/incident model to identify the interplay of factors contributing to incidents within the aviation industry. Methods. Nine hundred and fifty-four European-registered commercial airline pilots completed a 30-item survey investigating self-report attitudes and experiences of fatigue. Path analysis was used to test the proposed model. Results. The fit indices indicated this to be a good fit model (χ2 = 11.066, df = 5, p = 0.05; Comparative Fit Index = 0.991; Normed Fit Index = 0.984; Tucker–Lewis Index = 0.962; Root Mean Square of Approximation = 0.036). Highly significant relationships were identified between duty hours and sleep disturbance (r = 0.18, p < 0.001), sleep disturbance and fatigue in the cockpit (r = 0.40, p < 0.001), and fatigue in the cockpit and microsleeps in the cockpit (r = 0.43, p < 0.001). Discussion. A critical pathway from duty hours through to self-reported incidents in flight was identified. Further investigation employing both objective and subjective measures of sleep and fatigue is needed.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Sleep; Incidents; Commercial Flight; Working Hours; Pilots; sleep fatigue; flight incidents; path analysis
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Health
Medical Sciences > Performance
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Health and Human Performance
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
Official URL:https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2016.1146441
Copyright Information:© 2016 Taylor & Francis/Central Institute for Labour Protection – National Research Institute
Funders:This work was supported by the Irish Research Council [GOIPG/2013/45].
ID Code:28796
Deposited On:21 Jul 2023 10:01 by Anna Donnla O'hagan . Last Modified 21 Jul 2023 10:20
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