Fatigue Stressors in Simulated Long-Duration Flight. Effects on Performance, Information Processing, Subjective Fatigue, and Physiological Cost

摘要

The purpose of this study was to assist in the development of flight duration parameters for scheduling aircrew work-rest cycles. Twenty-four Airmen were selected to represent the USAF pilot population on the basis of flight aptitude scores, class II flight physicals, and personal interviews. Each received an intensive 7-day flight program in Link GAT-1 Trainers. Then half of the subjects were randomly assigned to a schedule that regularly alternated 12-hr duty days with 12-hr rest periods for 4 days. The remaining subjects followed a scheduled with duty days of 12, 24, 24, and 12 hr, with a 12-hr rest period between duty days. During each duty day, all subjects flew two 4.5-hr simulated flights. Flying performance was evaluated every hour by both simple and complex flight maneuver tests, administered and scored by a PDP-12 computer. The subject's threshold of information processing speed was determined hourly by a Discrete Information Processing Test (DIPT). (The DIPT is an adaptive, computer-controlled task developed for eventual use in the actual flight environment.) Continuous heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), fatigue, sleepiness scores, and sleep logs were collected throughout each mission.