Caffeine: Mitigating the Effects of Fatigue on the Flight Deck?

Abstract

Fatigue relating from sleep loss or circadian disruptions continues to pose a significant threat within aviation. Caffeine is one method employed by pilots on the flight deck to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with fatigue. The present study sought to investigate the effects of caffeine on pilot performance during a demanding task. Employing a repeated measures design, forty-two pilots were randomly divided into three groups (0mg/kg, 3mg/kg and 5mg/kg of caffeine) and completed a base-line task followed by a test task, thirty minutes post caffeine consumption. Both experimental tasks involved pilots completing games on Space Fortress - a computer-based research tool developed at the University of Illinois - Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory for the study of complex skills. The results failed to reveal any difference in pilots' performance from the consumption of caffeine. The results are discussed from both an applied and experimental perspective.