B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 800; Flight Crew Total 20000; Flight Crew Type 4000
Fatigue; Time Pressure
No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
Yesterday I flew a transatlantic flight from London to the US. We had a scheduled pickup at the hotel at XA:40. Due to traffic on the highway we arrived at the plane at XC:40. As a crew of only two--the flight being unaugmented due to the flight time scheduled at exactly 8 hours--we were quite rushed. This is the first Atlantic flight I have ever flown without a relief crewmember.After pushing on time; with a new First Officer; we had a short taxi to the runway. Shortly after departure we lost our Radar; and were lucky to receive excellent vectors from London Control around building cells.  The flight preceded and we were able to retrieve our Radar after Maintenance Control had us reset the CB.  We had to deviate around a few cells on our way to the U.S. but arrived in good time; with XXL as the best choice of runways.  When we blocked in the flight time was 8:12. I understand the company had adhered to the regulations in scheduling the flight at 8 hours; but I think this is not a realistic time. We were both exhausted. This flight was followed by flight returning to London a day later. We had arrived [after midnight local] and by the time we had reached our hotel rooms the time was almost 2.5 hours later.  This lack of sleep and disruption to our routine left us with a sleep deficit despite both of us going to bed at mid-evening the night before.I think the scheduling of this flight with no relief provided by a third crewmember is a safety hazard.  I hope the company will review this policy; err on the side of good judgment; and reinstate our relief.
A B767 Captain addressed fatigue issues when assigned to fly an unaugmented flight from London to the U.S.  The assignment was legal as the flight was scheduled for exactly eight hours although the actual block to block time exceeded eight hours.  Contributing factors were diurnal issues and rest periods not in concert with flight crew circadian rhythms.