Passengers Were Subject To Pilot Experiment

The FAA isn't too happy with JetBlue Airlines these days. The company performed an experiment with volunteer pilots to see how alert they could be for extended hours, with paying passengers blissfully unaware they were part of the research.

The FARs (Federal Aviation Regulations) explicitly prohibit crews from flying more than eight hours in a duty day. The Wall Street Journal reports the unconventional upstart airline had several pilots volunteer to be outfitted with devices to monitor their alertness when working in excess of the FAA-mandated eight hour limit a day.

A California company, Alertness Solutions devised the test, hoping it could sell the idea to federal regulators of "practical strategies [to] improve safety and productivity in our 24-hour society." Pilots flew with an alertness monitoring device for up to eleven hours  in the test. JetBlue always had a safety pilot in the cockpit if the guinea pig pilot felt too fatigued to continue.

While the New York FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) approved the test, when the idea hit the brass in Washington, they hit the ceiling.

"We don't allow experiments with passengers on board, period," an FAA official told the Journal.

Of course, if airlines could have their crews fly more than the current limit of eight hours, money could be saved. But with the incidence of pilot fatigue being more of an apparent factor in accidents, it seems unlikely the FAA will consider increasing the length of a crew day.

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said "Passengers don't expect to be test pilots themselves" when they fly on a commercial airliner.

The experiment has ended, with inconclusive results .

FMI: www.faa.org, www.jetblue.com, www.alertness-solutions.com