Study says 76.8% of surveyed pilots fell asleep in flight

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe claim under review: more than three in four pilots fall asleep at the controls.

2. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe New York Post ran it as a shocking air travel study.

3. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorWhich is a very strong headline for what I'd call a rest-forward flight experience.

4. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe survey covered about seven thousand two hundred pilots in thirty-two countries, and the European Cockpit Association commissioned it. Seventy-six point eight percent said yes.

5. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorAnd more than half said they'd flown a flight they felt they should have declared themselves unfit for, which Portugal News reported.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorThat's a crew being transparent about its own readiness levels.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat's the part that worries me.

8. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorTwenty-four point seven percent reported five or more microsleeps in four weeks.

9. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorA microsleep lasts a few seconds, so it's a power nap with a very short runway.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHere's the catch, according to View from the Wing.

11. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat seventy-six point eight also counted head nodding and fighting to keep your eyes open, and participation was voluntary.

12. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt's self-reported, so it doesn't show that seventy-six percent of pilots sleep in flight.

13. 

    Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorRating: Mildly Bonkers for the headline, Full Bonkers for the rest schedules. Seventy-six point eight percent of pilots told the truth about being tired.

14. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAnd that's the only part of this study that's fully awake.