There is a report which says most pilots in India usually fall asleep while they are flying. Is it a reality? If it’s a reality, why does this happen?

Answer is quite clear. Yes, this is a reality which has come to the fore out of a study. It says, most common causes of this is the overwork. In other words within the cockpit the overwork makes them fall asleep.

When asked indirectly, almost two-thirds of Indian pilots have admitted this saying cannot really help dozing off in the pilot’s seat.

The study conducted by the Safety Matters Foundation included 542 regional, local and international pilots. In this poll out of theses pilots around 65% accepted the fact that they fall asleep while sitting in the cockpit controlling the aircraft.

The above mentioned lines hint towards a severe scarcity of competent pilots in Indian aviation. Though the annual requirement of pilots goes up to 1,500 new pilots, still  a mere 200 to 300 of the hired ones are given the appropriate training.

Reason behind the falling asleep is basically the overwork in the cockpit due to the compulsion of having to fly back-to-back morning flights. This is why the pilots have to get up as early as 2am.

And undoubtedly, another significant reason behind this compromise turning to airplane accidents is fatigue.

India has hundreds of weekly flights to and fro destined to the UK. In these flights approximately 54% of pilots have reported having severe excessive daytime sleepiness, responding to the poll. Around forty per cent pilots in these flights complain about having moderate excessive daytime sleepiness.