Introduction

Fatigue clearly is a growing concern in modem aviation. Media attention following the 1999 crash of American Airlines flight 1420 spotlighted the need to modify civil crew-duty regulations, and the 2002 friendly-fire incident involving U.S. Air Force F-16 pilots raised awareness about the potential impact of fatigue in military aerospace operations. Suddenly it seemed that ‘doing something about overly-tired pilots’ was a major topic of conversation even though it looked like the issue was hardly recognized, much less seriously discussed, just a decade ago.