EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Situational Awareness; Physiological - Other; Fatigue; Distraction; Time Pressure; Workload
Other Fatigue
General None Reported / Taken
Aircraft; Company Policy; Weather; Staffing; Environment - Non Weather Related; Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
On Day 1; I had a good night's rest and woke up around 7:30 AM. Our first flight on Day 1 departed without incident from ZZZ1 to ZZZ2. There was a line of thunderstorms and heavy rain along the eastern seaboard and over ZZZ3. We landed in ZZZ2 and were informed by operations that we were delayed 3 hours going to ZZZ3. We waited and finally departed for ZZZ3 at 9:42 PM. We conducted the approach in heavy rain; winds; and IMC; with imbedded storms scattered in the area. Our block in time was 11:45. Neither the Captain nor I had any food for at least five hours because most of the concessions in ZZZ2 were closing or closed by the time we arrived in ZZZ2.When we arrived in ZZZ3; we called ZZZ3 Operations for crew meals and they advised us there were none. We went to find food; but nothing in terminal A was open. We had to exit security; take a bus to terminal C; pass back through security; and walk to the McDonald's because it was the only place open. We came back to A; got the aircraft ready; and departed for our next flight to ZZZ4 at 1:01 AM on Day 2. We arrived in ZZZ4 at 2:42 AM and the hotel told us we needed to take a cab. We found a cab and the driver got lost on the way to the hotel. When we had checked in to our rooms; it was approximately 3:15 AM. My circadian rhythm was now officially out of sync and my body naturally woke me up at 7 AM. I went back to sleep but it was not deep and fitful at times. I got up at 10:30 AM to prepare for work. I think I got maybe three or four hours of good sleep that night. The following day; our show time was 11:55 AM. We left to go back to ZZZ3. After arriving; we were informed that our next turn to ZZZ2 was delayed due to an inbound crew. We left at 4:51 PM; an hour late. There was weather in the ZZZ2 area that we had to negotiate and conduct our approaches through. We arrived in ZZZ2 late; and our corresponding flight back to ZZZ1 arrived late at 01:53Z as a result. Taking the air train at ZZZ1 to terminal E and then on the employee bus to the employee parking lot took 40 minutes. It took another hour for me to drive home. As a result; I arrived home way later than originally planned and did not have the opportunity to get a full eight hours of sleep. My roommate was creating a ruckus and doing laundry at 1:30 AM; which didn't help at all. I arrived at ZZZ1 on Day 3 to begin an adjacent two-day trip. The first day of the two-day trip had us flying five flights; back to back with no time to rest in between or sit down to eat food. I showed at 10:22 AM and we were due out to ZZZ5 at 11:22 AM. We left for ZZZ5 at 11:31 AM and flew the turn without incident. We were getting ready to go to ZZZ6 when we realized that the weather reports and forecasts indicated there were gusty winds and potential windshear in the area. The aircraft we were assigned had GPWS and windshear systems INOP. We refused the aircraft because we did not feel it was safe to take an aircraft into potential windshear conditions with no way to rapidly detect the windshear. This caused a one-hour delay. We were given another aircraft and flew to ZZZ6 and back without incident. When we returned from ZZZ6; we immediately went to ZZZ7 and had no time to get food. We took off for ZZZ7 and had to battle and work through a huge severe thunderstorm line that cut through the middle of Texas and on up into Oklahoma and even further into Canada. It was night; turbulent; and IMC. We were constantly flying around different cells. When we worked our way around the line to the west; we were able to get a visual into ZZZ7 and landed. The flight was 2:50 as a result of the vectoring and weather avoidance. When we taxied up to the ramp; a diverted Air Carrier Y CRJ was parked at our gate. The CRJ could not move because the station in ZZZ7 did not have a CRJ towbar. The Captain of the CRJ had to coordinate with Air Carrier Y Operations to figure out a way to get the airplane off the gate without powering back. As a result of this debacle; we waited on the ramp in ZZZ7 for an additional 30 minutes with the passengers on board. We were able to get into our gate and go to the hotel. By the time we arrived at the hotel; it was midnight. We went straight to bed because we had a 7:15 AM van the next morning to fly a three-leg day. I got a total of six hours of sleep that night because I had to get ready to depart for my flight the next morning. On the way back from ZZZ7; I could tell my body was shot. I had muscle aches and pains; and I felt nauseous. I was missing little things in the cockpit and both the Captain and I were practicing vigilant threat and error management because we knew we were exhausted. Despite these efforts; we still missed radio calls and forgot things. We both decided we were finished; and called in fatigued once we arrived back at ZZZ1.We were dealing with maintenance and weather delays that resulted in extended duty days and short overnights. Every day of this four-day stretch was long; and our overnights were too short to get adequate rest or catch up on sleep. As each day passed; we were operating with less and less rest. Also; throughout the day; there was no room for error and no time to get a decent meal because all of our sit times were eaten up by delays or aircraft swaps. We were habitually tired and hungry on this pairing; and it didn't help that Operations did not have any crew meals ready for us when we arrived in ZZZ3. Other threats were the severe weather along the East Coast; the frontal storm line in Texas; and the GPWS/Windshear INOP delay due to high; gusty winds in ZZZ6. On the flight from ZZZ7 to ZZZ1; I realized we did not have the physical or mental capacity to process or deal with anything in front of us. We were on mental and physiological autopilot at that point. If we would have had a serious emergency; I don't think we would have handled the situation as best as we otherwise could have. Despite having some coffee and a little breakfast that morning; we were simply too tired and spaced out half way through the flight to focus fully. It was then we knew we needed to call it a day.I felt like the Captain and I did a great job with our threat and error management. As our performance started to degrade; we stepped up our vigilance. As far as the company goes; we need more rest in between such long 12- and 14-hour days. The company should be more flexible in extending rest periods beyond the 8 hours if the crew arrives late due to delays and weather. I think the company should have an '8 hours behind the door' policy; where if crews need the extra rest because of long delays or extensive weather; they should help the crews out. Had we been able to rest longer throughout the week; we may have been able to catch up on sleep and may have had had the wherewithal to finish the pairing. Another thing is the issue of crew meals. A meal is not a box of snacks full of processed; partially-hydrogenated foods; however; that is what Air Carrier X considers a crew 'meal.' We were so hungry and late when we got to ZZZ3 at night that we were willing to take and eat one. When Operations said they didn't have any; we were upset because the time when we needed a crew meal the most was when all the airport concessions were closed. I think the company needs to improve the quality of food that they consider a meal; and the company needs to make sure that crew meals are abundantly available when crews arrive during times when they cannot get food anywhere else. I don't need a crew meal in the middle of the day. I need one at 1 AM when no one is around to provide me with food I can acquire myself. In the future; I will plan to bring healthy snacks with me so I can at least eat something decent instead of going six or more hours at a time without food. The problem is the back-to-back; non-stop scheduling like Day 1 of my second pairing. If we are scheduled to the max with few opportunities to get food;paperwork; or even visit the bathroom; we are rushed; we tire faster; and our performance suffers.
An E-145 First Officer discusses the debilitating effects of abusive flight time and duty time schedules; bad weather; equipment problem; lack of food and other factors which combine to decrease the capability of flight crews to safely transport their passengers.