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Consider a Boeing 737 cruising over the Atlantic when an engine flames out. The procedure here is clear: the pilot flying should continue flying the plane, while the pilot not flying should pull out the QRH and follow the checklist for engine flameout. What happens, though, if the pilot not flying is engaging in Flight Crew In-Seat Rest? I assume they're woken up, and then I see a few options:

  • the pilot flying continues to fly while the pilot not flying wakes up and overcomes their sleep inertia. After 20 minutes, they go through the engine out checklist

  • the pilot flying continues to fly while the pilot not flying immediately goes through the engine out checklist, despite the risk of sleep inertia

  • the pilot not flying immediately starts flying despite the risk of sleep inertia, and the pilot flying goes through the engine out checklist

  • the pilot flying flies the plane while going through the checklist as the pilot not flying wakes up

These all sound like awful options. So what would actually happen in such a situation?

Related: Is a pilot allowed to sleep during a flight?

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    $\begingroup$ I imagine the Pilot Flying shakes the Pilot Monitoring by the shoulder and says "Sonny come to life - things are happening!" $\endgroup$
    – voretaq7
    Feb 18, 2015 at 3:10
  • $\begingroup$ I would think the pilot at the controls would undoubtedly continue flying. The guy asleep would have no SA. Even when I was learning how to fly, if I was at the controls during an emergency, it was my aircraft and I flew. $\endgroup$
    – Rhino Driver
    Feb 18, 2015 at 4:01
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    $\begingroup$ 20min to wake up? I think that if the flying pilot really says "Sonny come to life - things are happening!", the resting one will be awake in less that 2 seconds, noticing later that 20 seconds would have been fine, too. $\endgroup$
    – sweber
    Feb 18, 2015 at 8:44
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    $\begingroup$ From experience I can tell you that in case of emergency sleep inertia does not last 20 minutes. Nature has ironed that flaw out eras ago. $\endgroup$
    – DeltaLima ♦
    Feb 18, 2015 at 11:05
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    $\begingroup$ @SHAF - SA? situational awareness? r u on a phn? $\endgroup$
    – CGCampbell
    Feb 18, 2015 at 14:01

1 Answer 1

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Option 2:

the pilot flying continues to fly while the pilot not flying immediately goes through the engine out checklist, despite the risk of sleep inertia.

When waking up to an emergency situation your body will start to produce adrenaline which gets you over the sleep inertia very quickly. If the situation is not clear to the PNF, he will be briefed by the PF.

Besides that, in a checklist flow, both pilots are involved and crosscheck each other's actions.

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  • $\begingroup$ Also... it's a checklist, how much thinking do you really have to do? Read it, confirm it with PF, put your hand on it, confirm it again, do it, check it off, next item. $\endgroup$
    – Jon Story
    Feb 18, 2015 at 13:03
  • $\begingroup$ This doesn't really seem sufficient. Consider this incident, in which sleep inertia was apparently enough to confuse the pilot monitoring over a minute after waking up. It still seems like engaging the pilot monitoring in checklist activities immediately after waking up carries a significant risk. $\endgroup$
    – raptortech97
    Feb 18, 2015 at 13:46
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    $\begingroup$ The infamous Venus avoidance manoeuvre! That is actually the opposite of what you describe; the PNF awakes to a non-emergency situation, then perceives an emergency to which the PF does not respond and he acts accordingly, thereby creating an emergency. $\endgroup$
    – DeltaLima ♦
    Feb 18, 2015 at 13:53
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    $\begingroup$ @raptortech97 indeed, but tiredness wasn't at fault there, and the pilot guessed which engine had failed, rather than following a checklist... I don't see any connection. The same goes for the other incident mentioned: caused by tiredness, but not due to an inability to follow a checklist when tired. That's the beauty of a checklist, it does a lot of the "reasoning" for you. $\endgroup$
    – Jon Story
    Feb 18, 2015 at 15:47
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    $\begingroup$ Adrenaline and fast hands are far more likely to exacerbate an emergency than deliberate, methodical action. Being woken up and thrust into an emergency could have disastrous consequences if the PNF makes sudden adrenaline fueled decisions. $\endgroup$
    – Rhino Driver
    Feb 20, 2015 at 0:50

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