An Overview of the Scientific Literature Concerning Fatigue, Sleep, and the Circadian Cycle Prepared for the Office of the Chief Scientific and Technical Advisor for Human Factors Federal Aviation Administration

This document provides a brief review of the scientific research relating to issues of pilot fatigue arising from crew scheduling practices. A massive amount of research has been conducted on such issues as the environmental conditions that contribute to the occurrence of fatigue, acute and chronic sleep debt and their effects on performance, and the influence of the circadian cycle on alertness. This paper attempts to identify major trends in this literature that might be of value in addressing scheduling regulatory issues.