Combating Fighter Pilot Fatigue

Pilot fatigue is a constant threat to all aircrew. There are particular risk factors for those flying high-performance fighter platforms. Flying high-G sorties is physically exhausting. In order for you to effectively combat this deadly adversary, you need to first understand the contributing causes, and then honestly evaluate your own unique habit patterns and risk factors.

CAUSES OF FATIGUE

• Excessive Physical Exertion
• Excessive Mental Exertion
• Inadequate Sleep Quantity
• Poor Sleep Quality
• Circadian Rhythm Disturbance, Working Nights
• Circadian Rhythm Disturbance, Jet Lag
• Medical Conditions
• Medications and/or Supplements

As a modern fighter pilot, your nation requires you to perform flawlessly at the limit of human information processing in a physically demanding environment. Even minor levels of underlying fatigue will manifest at this critical level of human performance.

As fatigue worsens, performance degrades in a progressive and predictable pattern:

1. First, attention declines
2. Next, ability to reason and reliably evaluate deteriorates
3. Irritability often follows
4. Finally, motor skills begin to falter

COMBATING FATIGUE - PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Maintain Your Energy Stores

Much like aircraft energy management is a building block of Basic Fighter Maneuvering (BFM), energy conservation is fundamental to optimal performance by the human machine. Your diet and nutrition is your JP-8.

You would never take a jet that did not accurately report its fuel stores, yet you probably are not always clear of your own energy balance at time of takeoff.

• Eat foods high in complex carbs (70% of your diet) up to 24 hours prior to a demanding flight
• Time your meals up to 3 hours prior to takeoff
• For a faster energy boost, focus on simple sugars generally found in sports drinks and fruit
• Hydration is critical for converting glycogen into instant energy

Take Mental Activity Breaks

The brain makes up only 2% of the body's total weight, but consumes 20% of its total energy. Scheduled activity breaks have been tested in high fidelity flight simulators and demonstrated improved performance following a 7-minute activity break.

Get Adequate Sleep

Do you know how many hours of adequate sleep is for you? If you want to find out, next time you are on leave for at least a week, sleep without an alarm clock. The amount of sleep that your body naturally sleeps in the absence of any sleep debt is your sleep requirement. This is normally 7-9 hours.

Dealing with Sleep Debt

It is always better to avoid sleep debt by getting a MINIMUM of 7 hours/night. The typical person can erase a sleep debt with only 1/3 of the accumulated debt. For example, if you require 8 hours sleep/night and sleep only 6 hours for 3 consecutive nights, you have developed a debt of 6 hours. You only need an additional 2 hours of sleep to be out of the red.

Get High Quality Sleep

Sleep is divided into Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep and REM sleep. NREM sleep is further divided into 4 progressively deeper stages. During a typical 8-hour sleep period, these stages progress sequentially in 90 minute cycles. This equates to approximately 4-6 total cycles for a full night's rest.

It is important that you experience all stages and cycles of sleep. If your 'sleep architecture' is distorted, you will likely not feel fully rested upon waking and will suffer similar performance degradation as sleep deprivation.