This is standard practice throughout the industry as it is proven to improve flight safety by ensuring the flight crew are well rested for the approach and landing which is one of the most demanding and intensive phases of the flight.
Many airlines provide crew rest areas on their aircraft, where pilots can sleep during long-haul flights. These areas are usually located in the tail, cargo area or above the cabin of the plane and are designed to be as quiet and comfortable as possible. Other crew members prefer to use business class seats to rest.
The pilot can sleep for no more than 40 minutes, and must wake up at least half an hour before the descent for landing. They get the first 15 minutes after the nap to fully awaken, during which they can't resume actually flying the plane, unless they need to help deal with an emergency.
Stone Slumber Pilot
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800 airliner failed to descend to the runway in the country's capital Addis Ababa — because the pilot was reportedly asleep. Fortunately, the aircraft alerted the sleeping pilot with an alarm when the plane overshot its target, apparently waking him up.
Fatigue can cause confusion, especially for pilots on international flights where time zones can affect sleep schedules. Sleep loss reduces response time and reasoning. This can lead to poor decision-making or incorrect responses or delayed responses to critical flight operations.
One important issue was how to ensure that the co-pilot didn't also accidentally fall asleep. This has been a real concern for many years in aviation, with some studies reporting that as much as 50% of pilots accidentally fall asleep during flights.
 Take Advantage of Naps
A 20-30-minute map is all you need to help fight pilot fatigue. A short burst of rest will help to improve alertness in your day. However, you want to be sure your nap isn't too long.
Pilots are trained to handle all sorts of nerve-racking situations, but that doesn't mean that they don't get scared—especially in these real instances, told by the pilots who experienced them, of serious in-flight fear.
Aircrafts don't really have headlights per se; but, There are red and green LEDs outside of the aircraft and on the ground, which help the pilots land at night and make their aircraft visible to another aircrafts in the night sky.
Even the FAA acknowledges that pilots may get only about four or five hours of sleep during that eight-hour period to prepare them for what can be as long as a 16-hour day of flying. Pilots say they're also required at times to fly a night shift for a day or two, then are switched over to a day schedule.
How Much Do Pilots Make an Hour? » According to The May 2021 Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary for commercial pilots is $99,640 per year. The median annual wage for airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers is $202,180.
Daily. An airline transport pilot can fly up to 8 hours per 24 hour period and up to 10 hours if a second pilot is aboard. Pilots are required to rest a minimum of 16 hours postflight. Some variances to these regulations exist depending on the company's operations specifications.
Currently, the bragging rights for the longest flight in the world belong is Singapore Airlines' New York City to Singapore route. Its longest flight path, which connects Singapore's Changi Airport with New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, 9,585 miles away, takes 18 hours and 40 minutes.
Airline pilots take it in turns to use the bathroom nearest the cockpit during a flight. There are no bathrooms installed in the cockpit. For airplanes with a single pilot, diapers, catheters, or collection devices are used if they are unable to land to use the airport bathroom.
Managing fatigue is a challenge, particularly when flying overnight (red-eye) flights. Some countries allow pilots to take controlled naps to improve alertness during the landing. So far, the U.S. has not allowed this fatigue mitigation. Pilots keep flight deck lights up, and engage in conversation to help keep alert.
Pilots have a unique viewpoint while flying private or commercial aircraft. They get an unobstructed view of stunning natural sights, such as pink lakes and rectangular-shaped icebergs. Some have reported seeing UFOs, while others have flown over swirling hurricanes.
Well-Lit Ground Features
During the day, roads, towns, and sometimes even cities can be difficult to pick out. Once the sun sets, these areas can become the only prominent things pilots can see on the ground. Dense, urban areas are easy to see at night, especially from higher altitudes.
While it all comes down to your preferences, daytime flying has the upper hand when it comes to visibility. Because of the sunlight, any possible obstructions, such as rocks or mountains, are far easier to spot, making the likelihood of accidents much less and daytime flying the safer option by far.
But if you've ever felt compelled to applaud the pilot for landing safely, think again. Pilots actually hate it when passengers clap. According to a Q&A on internet forum Quora, Scott Kinder, who identified himself as a 737 captain of a major US airline, said it is ignorant. “Don't even think about it.
The reason to dump fuel is simple: to drop weight. Any given aircraft has a Maximum Landing Weight (MLW) at which it can land, and in most cases that weight is lower than its Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW).
Airspeed is another common cause of bounced landings. If you land with too much airspeed, and you force the aircraft down in a flat attitude, your airplane simply isn't ready to stop flying. As you touch down, you'll skip off the runway like a rock on water, and bounce back into the air.
Anti-G Straining Maneuver (AGSM).
The pilot will tighten and release muscles in the glutes, legs, and abdomen to keep blood flow constant. Together, these measures prevent too much blood from settling in the legs, so extra Gs can be pulled by professional pilots.
More than two pilots
Generally, if the flight is longer than eight hours, a third pilot (second officer) is required onboard. That requirement may vary slightly between operators.