(April 2011) AFTER WRITING THREE articles on the subject of fatigue I figured I had pretty much covered that topic. Then I started receiving e-mails and phone calls from Flying readers, more than I have ever received before. It is obvious that fatigue is a critical issue for many people.
Paul Reeves described his own battle with micro naps that developed into micro sleep intrusions in which he was “still awake but under severely degraded motor function and a zombielike cognitive state — eyes open, brain off.” He said that he could not tell when this occurred, and could hear everything in real time, but he had dreamlike experiences that were close to hallucinations. Paul stopped driving and lost his medical for eight years while he got help with this problem. He pleaded with other pilots with sleep disorders to seek help, because he has “no doubt if I had continued on my own, you would not be reading this letter.”
