Air Transport

A continuing investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to determine if two pilots of Mesa Air Group’s Hawaiian subsidiary go! fell asleep during a flight in February shows the crew were on their third day of flying with early morning start times in their flight sequences.

The update was supplied on 10 June during a hearing that outlined a board recommendation letter to FAA regarding aviation fatigue management systems. FAA plans to hold a conference on fatigue management next week.

In addition to the busy work schedule prior to the flight under investigation, NTSB says after the incident one pilot was diagnosed with sleep apnea.

FAA launched its own investigation of the pilots after the incident in February when controllers lost contact with the crew of the CRJ200 on a flight from Honolulu to Hilo for about 20 minutes. The aircraft flew 15 miles beyond Hilo at cruising altitude.

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news