Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Fatigue
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy; Human Factors
I was on a six-day PM Reserve block (December XX through January XX). My normal body clock is on PST and I fly PMs exclusively. The trip switched from a PM to an East Coast AM and then back to an early PM trip. Day one was a PM report of XXXX CST/XXXX PST; day two was an early PM report of XXXX CST/XXXX PST; day three was an AM report of XXXX CST/XXXX PST; day four was an AM report of XXXX EST/XXXX PST; day five was an early PM report of XXXX CST/XXXX PST; and day six was an early PM report of XXXX CST/XXX PST. The first two days were not fatiguing. During the trip; the fatigue progressively got worse from days three to six. I started my trip well rested on December XX (day 1). I slept approximately eight to nine hours on the night of December XX (day one) in XXX and had a great day of flying on Jan X (day two). On January X (the night of day two/day three); I fell asleep at approximately XXXX CST/XXXX PST(body clock); woke up at XXXX CST/XXXX PST(Body Clock); lobbied at XXXX CST/XXXX PST (body clock). That was three hours of sleep. I don't normally wake up that early ever. I ate out of my Crew bag for breakfast. I felt good. We had four legs that day with a deadhead on the second leg. We landed in XXX uneventfully. On January X (day four); I fell asleep approximately at XXXX EST/XXXX PST (body clock). I woke up at XXXX EST/XXXX PST (body clock); lobbied at XXXX EST/XXXX PST (body clock). That was three and a half hours of sleep. Again; I ate out of my food bag for breakfast. I felt good. We flew one leg from XXX to XXX and landed uneventfully. I then deadheaded to SLC. Unfortunately; I was overtired and could not sleep on the way to SLC. When we landed in SLC on the early evening of January X; I could tell I was tired and hungry. I was not myself. I felt very irritable and I am sure I looked tired as well. I got a great meal for dinner; but was still overtired. I went to bed at approximately XXXX MST/XXXX PST (body clock). I woke up at XXXX MST/XXXX PST (body clock). That was seven and a half hours of sleep. When I woke up on January X (day five); I felt great. As the day progressed; I started to feel the effects of the AM report times from the previous days. From what I remember; the last two legs were challenging. It was difficult to stay focused. I had a really great First Officer and I communicated that I was starting to feel the effects of the AM report times. I deadheaded on the first leg and flew three more legs. Each leg my focus progressively deteriorated. We landed in XXX uneventfully. When I woke up on January X (day six); I was very exhausted. I was happy to be deadheading home. I am glad that I had really great First Officers. Looking back after being home for three days; the first two days at home I was still recovering. I was more exhausted than I thought. I could not do anything different; if my body does not want to sleep; there is nothing I can do about it. I wish we were not switched from PMs to AMs.
The Captain for a commercial air carrier described in detail the deleterious effects of extended reserve pilots' assignments to mixed AM and PM flights.