Getting Some Shut-Eye on the Red-Eye

It's not unusual for most of the people on a red-eye flight to be asleep, but you're always hoping the pilots aren't among them:

A pair of commercial pilots fell asleep in the cockpit on their way to Denver in 2004 and sped toward the airport at twice the speed allowed, according to an anonymous report by the captain on a federal safety Web site. ...

The pilot said his schedule had been switched to three nights in a row of flying "red eye" flights. The eight-hour Denver- Baltimore round trip returned to Denver after 6 a.m.

On his third overnight flight, the pilot and first officer were sound asleep as they approached Denver International Airport. At 60 miles out, their jet was rushing toward the crowded skies surrounding the airport at Mach .82, or 608 mph, instead of the 287-mph speed required at that point.

The pilot also reported the plane was flying at 35,000 feet, above the restriction of 19,000 feet at that particular crossing point.

"Last 45 mins of flt I fell asleep and so did the FO," or first officer, according to a one-paragraph report on the incident found on the federal Aviation Safety Reporting System.

"Missed all calls from ATC" (air traffic control) asking why he was ignoring the standards for approaching DIA.

"I woke up, why I don't know, and heard frantic calls from ATC. . . . I answered ATC and abided by all instructions to get down. Woke FO up."

He spiraled the jet down to a lower altitude as ordered, then landed "with no further incidents."

The pilot concluded by saying he hoped the airline had stopped such scheduling.

I've flown red-eye flights a couple of times (and have another one scheduled in January), and I can see how tough it would be on the pilots. Given the flight director technology that airliners employ these days there really isn't that much for pilots to do other other than monitor the instruments and answer the radio. A few hours of staring out into the blackness while the jet drones on would put anybody to sleep.