Pilots will fly Sunrise despite risk: Woodward

A former Qantas pilot has warned his colleagues of the potential health effects of ultra-long range flying.

Retired Qantas pilot Richard Woodward.

A former Qantas pilot has warned his colleagues of the potential health effects of ultra-long range flying but predicted they will still agree to do the airline’s Project Sunrise flights.

After almost 33 years with Qantas including 11 years as an A380 captain, Richard Woodward officially retired this month, closing the curtains on a stellar career.

But his departure came with a warning to colleagues currently in negotiations with Qantas to operate ultra-long range services from Australia’s east coast to cities like New York and London.

He said detailed research undertaken by the airline in co-operation with the pilots’ association, universities and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority some years ago identified the disturbing effects of fatigue on a pilot’s performance.

“We found if the captain got less than five hours of sleep over an extended period of time, the crew’s ability to make, manage and maintain a plan of action was severely degraded,” said Mr Woodward.

“Similarly if the first officer got less than five hours of sleep then the crew’s ability to reflect on that plan and maybe alter outcomes was severely degraded because it’s the first officer’s job to monitor what the captain wants to do.”

He said if the crew was fatigued to that level, the consequential error rate doubled.

“A consequential error is an error that if left unchecked will have safety outcomes for the aeroplane,” Mr Woodward said.

“For example, if you had clearance to climb to an altitude, say 37,000 feet, and you misread it, or were tired enough that you dialled the wrong number into the aeroplane, you’d be in conflict with traffic coming the other way.”

Further tests were undertaken in simulators using pilots fatigued after long flights, and those who were well rested.

Mr Woodward said the fatigued pilots made more errors than those who were fresh but their “error correction rate was very good”.

What was lacking in the research, which took into account more than 13,000 sleep nights of data, was a long-term view of the health effects of long haul flying.

Mr Woodward said pilots were generally in excellent health when recruited and were monitored throughout their career, so they tended to be healthier than the rest of the population.

“In my experience, pilots are a lot more health-conscious now than they used to be, but is that enough to mitigate the risk of working 22-hour days every second week or every week for the next 20years?” he asked.

“I don’t have the answer but I think we should study it.”

Despite his misgivings about the health effects of such operations, Mr Woodward believed it was unlikely to deter pilots from taking on Project Sunrise-style flights.

“I think the pilots will do it and they’ll do it to the best of their ability,” he said.

“Pilots are our own worst enemy. Professionally we will do whatever the task is and we will manage it.”