One in three pilots wake to find their co-pilot also asleep The two pilots admitted what had happened to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which said both crew members were suffering from symptoms of severe fatigue. It added that both members of flight crew had only five hours sleep in two nights due to longer duty period with insufficient opportunity to sleep. The research was carried out ahead of a European Parliament vote on flying hours within the EU. BALPA has warned the proposed changes would lead to pilots working up to seven starts in a row and being awake for 22 hours if standby hours are taken into account. Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of BALPA, said: "Making every flight a safe flight is the number one priority for British pilots who have helped establish some of the highest safety standards in Europe. Tiredness is already a major challenge for pilots who are deeply concerned that unscientific new EU rules will cut UK standards and lead to increased levels of tiredness, which has been shown to be a major contributory factor in air accidents.