I recently worked with an ag pilot on obtaining a formal Operations Certificate as the foundation for his newly formed aerial application business. The project was quite involved from an administrative point of view, including producing a wide range of manuals and other documents to ensure compliance with existing regulations. It brings to mind the adage that you can fly when the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the airplane.
During the project setup, there were many back-and-forth conversations, texts, and emails. We were in the busiest part of the aerial application season when I received an urgent email: “I don’t have time to worry about paperwork right now! I’ve hardly slept in a month and sprayed 60,00 acres with no end in sight!”
I responded right away with the message to keep the focus on safe flying and not to worry about the paperwork required at this point. Once the action slowed down a bit, there would be lots of time to work on those details.
That night, I had a decidedly troubled sleep, wondering whether or not I should have been more strident in suggesting he take a brief break. Come morning, there was a brief mention on the news of an ag aircraft accident in the area where the new business would be operating. Talk about getting that sinking feeling and expecting the worst! I immediately contacted his office to find out that all was well, thankfully.
The aerial application season can get very hectic indeed. This year, the local crops were particularly healthy, with sufficient moisture to spur growth, but along with the moisture, there was a widespread urgent requirement for fungicide applications. Given the previous two years had not been good for farmers because of an extensive drought, I’m confident the fellow I was working with felt tons of pressure to keep flying regardless of the safety implications.
Does it sound like a situation you can relate to? You feel you are being pushed into doing something you know has a real potential for becoming an accident statistic. It’s particularly tough with a small or single-operator business where the pilot is also the mixer/loader, admin clerk, and chief cook and bottlewasher.
Long hours in the cockpit. Minimal sleep. Fatigue. Pressure to perform. It’s the domino effect where you stand domino tiles close together in a line. If one should tip over, it starts a chain reaction, and they all come tumbling down. In the real world, the cumulative effect of those factors can spell disaster, where just a moment’s inattention compounded by less than razor-sharp awareness can turn things sour in a heartbeat. It’s not something you want to happen ten feet above the ground at 120 plus mph.
Many can relate to the effects of sleep deprivation and fatigue, which affect both the body and the brain. The first warning signs of insufficient sleep are feeling exhausted and yawning excessively. While a cup or two of strong coffee may help alleviate some of these symptoms, you’re dealing with a deck stacked against you.
It’s the same when fatigue makes you irritable, moody, and anxious, and even small issues can be blown out of proportion. Remember barking at the mixer/loader for forgetting to clean your windshield?
Your brain and body both need adequate rest to function optimally, so they should be given the highest priority. Here are some things you can do to help you stay out of the sleep deprivation/fatigue downward spiral so you don’t wake up with puffy eyes, dark circles, and a hit-and-miss memory, not to mention a twisted pile of bent aluminum or something worse.
Ensure everyone on the crew has each other’s attention. The person who is fatigued is usually the last one to recognize it, so ensure everyone is aware of the early signs of fatigue and sleep deprivation. It’s a great topic for a refresher classroom session or two prior to the commencement of a new season.
Choose a cool, dark, and quiet sleep area away from the hustle and bustle and noise of the loading area. When you finally get to a place where you can grab some quality nap time, turn off that darn cell phone!
Avoid drinking anything with alcohol before hitting the sack at the end of the day. While initially, it might make you feel sleepy, alcohol can seriously disrupt your sleep, especially the REM sleep that is important to memory.
Here’s a fact to keep in mind. Drivers getting less than 5 hours of sleep have a crash risk similar to someone driving while over the legal alcohol limit, and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that drowsy driving accounts for thousands of crashes, injuries and fatalities each year. It’s easy to transfer this stark information into the world of ag aviation.
Safety is a shared responsibility that involves owners, management, pilots and groundcrew. A well-designed and implemented safety management program that combines regulatory, operational, and human factors will pay enormous dividends. Again, this is a great project for the off-season.
No matter how well you plan, sooner or later, you will run into a situation where you feel boxed in. The first domino of sleep deprivation teeters on edge, with the potential for others to follow—forgetting the flaps on takeoff, missing a critical item because of interrupted checks, or failing to fully secure a fuel cap. That’s past when you should be taking a hard and hopefully objective look at how close you are to the edges of the safety envelope.
Watch those dominoes! It is far better to err on the safe side and shut down – perhaps not covering the same number of acres – than to explain a preventable incident or accident. In the end, remember the decision to fly or not to fly is yours and yours alone. Guard that decision with the utmost care. You will always be very glad you did.
