Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240; Flight Crew Total 20000; Flight Crew Type 4500
Fatigue
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Staffing; Company Policy; Human Factors
[This flight assignment] is unsafe as constructed. This leg requires augmentation. The extent of physical impairment was so severe that it put us at risk. We violated every facet of the CRM/TEM concept. During this leg the First Officer and I were in and out of microsleep. I would startle myself awake only to find my First Officer slumped over the controls. This is unacceptable. When the human physiology of sleep is denied; as in circadian disruptions; then there is absolutely nothing you can do short of taking drugs to stay awake. This is NOT just an all nighter. This is back side of the clock on the other side of the world. Circadian low point occurs 2 hours into the flight. And the flight starts off with sleep debt due to the all nighter to [a Far East Pacific crossing destination] followed by this leg to [another Far East destination about 6 hours away]. At the end of the flight we have been up for 24 hours. After we arrive ZZZZ and get to bed we wake up at 0200 local. This is the middle of our body clock day. The so-called nap before pickup is just staring at the walls since we are in our daytime body clock. By the time we launch we are now in circadian low; 0100-0400 body time. The sleep debt coming over also begins to rear its ugly head. We were just trying to survive the flight. Words cannot describe the physical toll this took on us and the effort needed to stay alert enough to get on the ground safely. We were shaking ourselves; reading checklists over and over trying to stay awake for the arrival. Worse were the lingering effects over the next couple of days. This doesn't just go away. The cumulative sleep debt and the reaction of the body to forcing it into sleep deprivation during this time have a long term recovery. You don't just go to bed and all is well. It takes several days to recover. This is borderline reckless to deliberately put ourselves in this physical state and then fly. Augment or change the departure times.
An international Captain reported extreme fatigue experienced by him and his First Officer on a non-augmented Far East leg following a Pacific crossing.