Loved the headline on this AP story – “Government Struggles to Find Answer to Pilot Fatigue”.

It goes on to say that the problem seems to be increasing – and not a whole lot is being done (but the government is working on it!).

The article mentions the story about two pilots heading traveling from Honolulu to Hilo – who overshot their airport by some 15 miles or so. Turns out they’d been napping, because they were tired (and one of the pilots had an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea – that gives you confidence, huh?).

What did I like about the headline? The Capt. Obviousness of it. If pilots need more sleep, let them have it – even if that means you have to hire more of them – even if it means airfares go (gasp) up. Our lives are at stake here, no kidding.

We get letters…

Unfortunately, we don’t get any near as good as “Dear Amy” gets – like the one from the woman who believed her sleeping seatmate on a recent flight was in a “near-coma”. Even worse, just before take-off, the Dozing One was seen taking a pill!

Boy did that get the letter writer worried:

“I tried several times to politely rouse her, but the only time she woke up was for the meal. I’ve been thinking that maybe it was a potential safety issue. Should I have asked her what she was taking when I saw the pills? Should I have told the flight attendants?” -from Dear Amy, 8-19-09

Amy responded by saying, if the woman actually was in a “near-coma” or had to get up, then yes, a flight attendant should have been notified.

Really? Raise your hand if you can tell the difference between “near-coma” and drool-leaking sleep. I didn’t think so. Here’s my response:

“You tried several times to ‘politely rouse her’ and she didn’t take a swing at you? Count your blessings, lady. Besides, she got up for a meal – I’m pretty sure the nearly-dead don’t do that. And – you wondered if you should have asked ‘what she was taking’ when you saw the pills – why, were you hoping she’d share? I doubt she would have, not after all that ‘polite rousing’. And sure, you could have ‘told the flight attendants’ – but I suspect they wish all their passengers were near-comatose, and would have chastised you for the ‘polite rousing’.” -Standard Upright Position, 8-20-09

Sad and creepy story from the Washington Post, which points out that half of all scheduled flights in the U.S. today are operated by regional airlines. Piloted by people who make oh, maybe $20,000 to start -because the number of people flying has tanked and fares are cheap and pay has been cut.

How do you live on that? Crash pads.

Crash pads are temporary residences — like the suburban split level described in the Post that is the sometime home of 30 pilots, flight attendants, and other crew members. They’re packed into bunk beds – the basement sleeps 16, for example – and that’s how they live. A number of these guys describe themselves as “somewhat homeless”.

This is what happens when salaries are cut -or you’re transferred across the country from your “real home” – where the wife and kiddies live — and you don’t want to uproot them in case you’re transferred again. You do what you have to, to survive.

But hey, it’s not all doom and gloom – as a spokesman for one regional carrier says, the company supports “the right of our pilots to live where they choose…”

Sure, Los Angeles’ LAX is noisy – it’s an airport, for pete’s sake!

And it’s also noisy at Van Nuys (private planes) and Ontario, too. But too much noise is bad, so – thank goodness for WebTrak!

WebTrak is “a new online noise complaint system…for resident living near the [LA area] facilities”. According to a local wire service, it’s an easy way to report your complaints.

Well…not all that easy. It took some doing to find this new WebTrak on the Los Angeles International website – so here’s the link to the LAX info, save you some time – but once there, you get a cool map with little planes on it, showing them merrily take-offing and landing. Nice.

Problem is, I can’t figure out what they do with complaints. It doesn’t say. Surely, someone reads them. Hope so, but…somehow, I figure the residents of Torrance and Playa Del Rey and Inglewood aren’t going to be getting any decibel relief anytime soon. Hope I’m wrong.

I got all excited when I saw this jacket at left – featured on Gizmodo.

You self-inflate the hood, and – wham! — instant pillow. Sweet.

Unfortunately, actually buying the thing seems somewhat problematic – no prices, sizes, etc. on the designer’s site.

Also problematic – the name of the jacket — the aforementioned designer calls it, “Never Stop a Rolling Stone”. Let’s see – Mick Jagger – inflatable hood – no, I’m not quite getting it.

No matter -you can’t buy it. But hold on – Burton has a jacket with an inflatable neck! I’m told it’s good.

Hey, all — this could be the real deal.

Reuters is reporting that tests on the drug, tasimelteon — also known as VEC-162 — show it has the potential to work for people with “transient insomnia”. Meaning people who work the late-shift, as well as people who suffer from jet-lag.

Testing is being carried out at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, in conjunction with the drug’s developer, Maryland-based Vanda Pharmaceuticals.

Here’s some of the initial findings: people using tasimelteon “fell asleep faster, had better sleep and woke up faster”.

The FAA is taking a look at whether a couple of Go! Airlines pilots went sleepy-bye on a flight to Hilo. According to this AP report, the feds got a little suspicious when the plane overshot it’s runway by, oh, 15-miles or so.

This wouldn’t be the first time pilots fell asleep on the job; it happened to a couple of Frontier pilots back in 2004. But those guys were on a pretty long flight, from Baltimore to Denver.

Not our Go! guys. Keep reading…

The pilots on the Go! airline were only flying from Honolulu to Hilo! A flight that takes less than an hour (or it does, if you remember to land when you’re supposed to).

And, in case you’re wondering, the Arizona Republic is reporting that there was apparently “no indication that the pilots had to avoid landing because of other aircraft or weather”.

So what were they thinking? “Say, Biff, this flight lasts 51 minutes. Plenty of time for a lil shut-eye.”

Dunno about you, but I find this…worrisome.

Want to get in some good practice for sleeping on planes?

Try Motherhood.

Surveys show that economy travelers on overnight flights get about 3-hours of sleep (and business and first-class flyers don’t do much better, with about 4-hours).

Well, consider them lucky. The lovely Travel Diva points out that new mothers get about 3-and-a-half hours sleep a night and thats all they get, EVERY night for about 4-months!

One big reason: all those new-fangled baby gadgets like monitors that keep moms alert to their wee ones every little gurgle and coo. And apparently, only moms can hear these monitors; many new dads say they get their normal sleep hours in.

[Things get better after 4-months: I know one couple that used to play dead when baby noises would start coming over the monitor, hoping my husband the other party would crack and go to the baby first].

Anyway, so you don’t get much sleep on a plane? Oh, don’t be such a baby!