WASHINGTON — On-the-job naps should be considered as part of a plan to address fatigue by air traffic controllers, airline pilots and others who work overnight shifts, a National Trans portation Safety Board member said Monday.
There is an abundance of scientific studies that show short naps of between 20 and 30 minutes refresh workers suffering fatigue and help them remain alert when they return to their duties, NTSB member Mark Rosekind said. Rosekind is an internationally recognized fatigue expert who formerly worked for NASA and directed a sleep research center at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
His advice came as the Federal Aviation Administration said a third air traffic controller has been fired for napping on the job. An e-mail from the agency said the controller assigned to Boeing Field in Seattle was fired Monday for sleeping on duty on April 11 and Jan. 6.
