Now, an application to predict pilot alertness

Mumbai: At a time when crew fatigue is one of the biggest challenges confronting modern aviation, an iPhone application (app) called CrewAlert allows airlines to predict a pilot's alertness levels.
Developed by Boeing and Jeppesen, it takes into account several factors, including the pilot's physiology, sleep and time zones travelled, to predict alertness levels.
For over four years, Indian pilots have been fighting to get scientifically backed rest rules for cockpit crew. The introduction of the app has prompted Jet Airways pilots to press the aviation regulator for a similar arrangement. At present, India follows Flight Duty and Time Limitation (FDTL) rest rules formulated way back in 1992. The research done on pilot fatigue in the last 20 years has not been used to improve rest rules for the Indian crew.
Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots (SWIP), an association of Jet Airways pilots, sent a letter in this regard to the Director-General of Civil Aviation on Monday. "We would like you to evaluate and assess the 1992 FDTL objectively and scientifically with regards to alertness in crews," says the letter. "One such readily available software is ewAlert.
Pointing out that the software is based on Boeing Alertness Model, a bio-mathematical model derived from decades of research on fatigue and sleep, the SWIP, in its letter, has said, This model predicts alertness in crew and takes into account physiology of the individual, actual sleep availed, operation during window of circadian low and time zone transitions for a given set of duty or duties. The software costs $20 and runs on an iPhone, a very small price for human lives."
29/03/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2011, New Mar 2011