Pilot Stress and Fatigue Paper Example

Stress is something that occurs naturally, and it is impossible not to experience some pressure in our daily activities. When we think of stress, people often imagine an adverse situation at work or at home, but it is important to highlight that stress is not all about being wrong. Good stress or eustress can help motivate a person to complete a task or meet daily challenges, and in fact, it can help a person accomplish a task efficiently. However, stress becomes terrible when a person is experiencing too much pressure, which could result in errors of judgment, lack of concentration, poor memory, and many more. While there is high exposure of aviation professionals to different stress factors, pilots are continually undressing the effect of stress during the operation of commercial aircraft. Examining the impact of stress and its relation to fatigue is crucial to ensure the safety of commercial aviation.

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Pilots are capable of handling the stress involved in operating an aircraft. They go to rigorous training, examination, and evaluation to ensure that a pilot can withstand the strenuous workload in the flight deck, Stokes & Raby. (1989). Furthermore, the flight deck numerous amount of switches, flight controls, and monitors in the cockpit which could easily overwhelm any untrained personnel. Pilots undertake enormous responsibility of ensuring that aircraft meets airworthiness standards by completing the required pre-flight checklist, safely manoeuvring an aircraft while taxing to the runway, controlling the aircraft during take-off phase, monitoring aircraft status at cruise altitude, configuring aircraft flight surfaces during descent and managing the plane during final approach. Reading the different stages of flight may sound simple but the work involved is a stressful event. Any unpredictable situation such as emergency condition, adverse weather, or airport congestion further intensifies the workload in the cockpit which requires for the pilot to be more vigilant, alert and focus on ensuring that they are performing the correct procedures and complying with the policies and regulations.

Aircraft flight operation needs seriousness when handling, and each step must be followed per the flight manual, organizational policies, and governing laws because deviation from action could have significant implications on safety in aviation. The enormous responsibility of a pilot can create a lot of stress on a person. The level and effect of stress manifest during an unpredictable situation.

It is evident that stress impacts human performance, and it is important to note that exposure to stress could lead to fatigue. When a person is under pressure, the body produces a hormone called cortical, which increases the amount of adrenaline. More adrenaline means more energy. However, once the body runs out of glucose to provide energy, the person will feel tired and sleepy, resulting in fatigue. The combined effects of stress and fatigue become a significant concern in aviation. Once a person is affected by fatigue and distress, it is only a matter of time before mistakes occur. Stokes & Kite (2017). According to an article by the skybrary wiki on fatigue manifestation, poor decisions, difficulty in memorizing information, lack of concentration and tendency of forgetting information are some of the effects of fatigue.

Conclusion

In conclusion, installing adequate knowledge to pilots on how to cope up with stress is essential. Also, they need to have the ability to recognize the symptoms of anxiety and fatigue to avoid getting into their extremes. The safety knowledge will help them reduce the risks to fatigue and stress. Though there is no stipulated technique to cab fatigue, fatigue can be managed by having a good sleep and avoiding alcohol and caffeine some hours before sleep.

References

SKYbrary Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Fatigue_Manifestations_(OGHFA_BN)

Stokes, A. F., & Kite, K. (2017). Flight stress: Stress, fatigue and performance in aviation. Routledge.

Stokes, A. F., & Raby, M. (1989, October). Stress and cognitive performance in trainee pilots. In Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 33, No. 14, pp. 883-887). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.