THIS MONTH IN AEROSPACE MEDICINE HISTORY
Seventy-Five Years Ago in August 1939
Twenty-Five Years Ago in August 1989
Alcohol and flying (Army National Guard, Cambridge, MD): “1. A Readjustment after crossing nine time zones (Aviation Systems Research group of twenty-two pilots with an average commissioned service of Branch, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, and the Royal 10.7 years were observed over a period of five years. Of the number, Norwegian Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, Blindern, Oslo, Norway): three, or 13.6 per cent, were total abstainers, 87.4 per cent were conviv“The adjustment of sleep-wake patterns and the circadian temperaial drinkers. None could be considered alcoholic within the legitimate ture rhythm was monitored in nine Royal Norwegian Airforce volunmeaning of the term. Of the three total abstainers, two were definitely teers operating P-3 aircraft during a westward training deployment of the introvert makeup, one less definitely extrovert with many introacross nine time zones. Subjects recorded all sleep and nap times, vert qualities. rated nightly sleep quality, and completed personality inventories. “2. Among the older and more experienced men there was practiRectal temperature, heart rate, and wrist activity were continuously cally no tendency to fly when drinking. Experience had taught them monitored. Adjustment was slower after the return eastward flight the unwisdom [sic] of such practice. The younger graduates were as a than after the outbound westward flight. The eastward flight prowhole inclined to be rather abstemious. duced slower readjustment of sleep timing to local time and greater “3. There was no appreciable cutting down on performance due to interindividual variability in the patterns of adjustment of sleep and alcohol. One pilot has a splendid war record, is outstandingly successtemperature. One subject apparently exhibited resynchronizatian by ful in commercial aviation, and has more than 4,500 hours flying time. partition, with the temperature rhythm undergoing the reciprocal 15-h He has used alcohol convivially over a period of twenty years without delay. In contrast, average heart rates during sleep were significantly loss of performance. elevated only after westward flight. Interindividual differences in ad“4. Any preparation for high altitude work should be preceded by justment of the temperature rhythm were correlated with some of the several days of total abstinence. personality measures. Larger phase delays in the overall temperature “5. The particularly dangerous feature of alcohol appears to be its waveform (as measured on the 5th day after westward flight) were use in a mistaken attempt to overcome fatigue andDelivered staleness, or an exhibited by extraverts, byinIngenta to: Guest User and less consistently by evening types… attempt to boost oneself up to a performance which the individual the 2016 present01:04:35 study, in contrast to previous studies, there were IP: for 46.161.60.124 On: Sun, 26“InJun is not physically or mentally fitted. no significant correlations between the baseline phase of the temCopyright: Aerospace Medical Association “6. The opinion of the writer is that the physical and mental enperature rhythm (measured by any of the three phase-estimating techdowment of the individual as determined by inheritance and early niques) and either the magnitude of the phase delay shift, or the conditioning has more to do with his performance as a pilot than any morningness/eveningness score. The interindividual range of periods incidental use of alcohol” (2). of free-running temperature rhythms is relatively narrow. Thus the The first practical jet airplane: The German Heinkel He 178 flew corresponding range of phases of entrained temperature rhythms on August 17, 1939, with test pilot Erich Warsitz flying. This was would be expected to be small. It may be that the small sample size in the world’s first turbojet and foresaw the introduction of the this study mitigated against detecting subtle differences relating to Messerschmitt Me 262 and Gloster Meteor by the end of World baseline temperature rhythm phase. War II (4). “In conclusion, the present study of the effects of time zone crossings in propellor [sic] aircraft confirms previous findings from jet flights that greater disruption of sleep and the circadian rhythm of Fifty Years Ago in August 1964 core temperature occurs after eastward flights than after westward Motor vehicle accidents in aircrew versus non-aircrew (Institute of flights. Adaptation may be particularly slow after eastward flights Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland): “The hospital admissions and crossing many time zones because of the tendency of some rhythms to deaths from motor vehicle accidents in the United States Air Force resynchronize by delaying while others advance. Inter-individual difwere appr. 1.8 times as frequent among the non-flying as among the ferences may be highlighted in such cases. Extraverts appeared to flying personnel. The rates for officers were from one half to one third adapt more rapidly to the delay shift, perhaps because they are more of those of the corresponding total Air Force population. Even among exposed to the social routine in the new time zone” (1). the officers, the rates of the flyers tended to be lower than those of the non-flyers. Mortality from other injuries, i.e. primarily from aircraft REFERENCES accidents, is high among the flying personnel, but this is not reflected 1. Gander P, Myhre G, Graeber RC, Andersen HT, Lauber JK. in the hospital admission rate. The mortality from motor vehicle acciAdjustment of sleep and the circadian temperature rhythm after dents is compared with United States national figures for men of difflights across nine time zones. Aviat Space Environ Med 1989; ferent ages. The effect of the age structure of the populations and of 60:733–43. exposure is discussed. The conclusion appears valid that Air Force 2. Hamlin PG. Personality reactions in a group of military airplane selection and/or flight training decrease the risk of motor vehicle pilots – with special reference to behavior to alcohol. J Aviat accidents… Med 1939; 11:129–35. “The hypothesis, that Air Force selection and/or flight training 3. Karvonen MJ. Motor vehicle accidents of flying and non-flying would decrease the risk for motor vehicle accidents, finds definite Air Force personnel. Aerosp Med 1964; 35:739–40. support in the presented data. The most appropriate comparison is 4. Warsitz L. The first jet pilot: the story of German test pilot Erich probably made between the flying and non-flying officers. The age Warsitz. Barnsley, England: Pen and Sword Books Ltd.; 2009:125. and social structure of these two groups is evidently rather similar. When the total flying and non-flying personnel are compared, the difference in motor vehicle accidents is much more striking. However, it obviously is accentuated by the inclusion of a larger proportion of men in the high risk age range of 20-24 years among the nonflying personnel. “In assessing the risk, exposure must also be considered. In the present United States society, the ownership of a motor-car is easily This column is prepared each month by Walter Dalitsch III, M.D., accessible to the flying and to the non-flying personnel. Both use moM.P.H. Most of the articles mentioned here were printed over the years tor vehicles for land transports daily. The non-flying personnel may, in the official journal of the Aerospace Medical Association. These and on an average, spend more time in service vehicles, but in privately other articles are available for download from Mira LibrarySmart via owned vehicles, the flying personnel may be exposed at least as much https://submissions.miracd.com/asmaarchive/Login.aspx. as the non-flyers. Reprint & Copyright © by the Aerospace Medical Association, “The conclusion thus appears valid, that Air Force selection and/ Alexandria, VA. or flight training decrease the risk of motor vehicle accidents” (3). DOI: 10.3357/ASEM.4071.2014
874
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 8 x August 2014
Seventy-Five Years Ago in August 1939
Twenty-Five Years Ago in August 1989
Alcohol and flying (Army National Guard, Cambridge, MD): “1. A Readjustment after crossing nine time zones (Aviation Systems Research group of twenty-two pilots with an average commissioned service of Branch, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, and the Royal 10.7 years were observed over a period of five years. Of the number, Norwegian Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine, Blindern, Oslo, Norway): three, or 13.6 per cent, were total abstainers, 87.4 per cent were conviv“The adjustment of sleep-wake patterns and the circadian temperaial drinkers. None could be considered alcoholic within the legitimate ture rhythm was monitored in nine Royal Norwegian Airforce volunmeaning of the term. Of the three total abstainers, two were definitely teers operating P-3 aircraft during a westward training deployment of the introvert makeup, one less definitely extrovert with many introacross nine time zones. Subjects recorded all sleep and nap times, vert qualities. rated nightly sleep quality, and completed personality inventories. “2. Among the older and more experienced men there was practiRectal temperature, heart rate, and wrist activity were continuously cally no tendency to fly when drinking. Experience had taught them monitored. Adjustment was slower after the return eastward flight the unwisdom [sic] of such practice. The younger graduates were as a than after the outbound westward flight. The eastward flight prowhole inclined to be rather abstemious. duced slower readjustment of sleep timing to local time and greater “3. There was no appreciable cutting down on performance due to interindividual variability in the patterns of adjustment of sleep and alcohol. One pilot has a splendid war record, is outstandingly successtemperature. One subject apparently exhibited resynchronizatian by ful in commercial aviation, and has more than 4,500 hours flying time. partition, with the temperature rhythm undergoing the reciprocal 15-h He has used alcohol convivially over a period of twenty years without delay. In contrast, average heart rates during sleep were significantly loss of performance. elevated only after westward flight. Interindividual differences in ad“4. Any preparation for high altitude work should be preceded by justment of the temperature rhythm were correlated with some of the several days of total abstinence. personality measures. Larger phase delays in the overall temperature “5. The particularly dangerous feature of alcohol appears to be its waveform (as measured on the 5th day after westward flight) were use in a mistaken attempt to overcome fatigue andDelivered staleness, or an exhibited by extraverts, byinIngenta to: Guest User and less consistently by evening types… attempt to boost oneself up to a performance which the individual the 2016 present01:04:35 study, in contrast to previous studies, there were IP: for 46.161.60.124 On: Sun, 26“InJun is not physically or mentally fitted. no significant correlations between the baseline phase of the temCopyright: Aerospace Medical Association “6. The opinion of the writer is that the physical and mental enperature rhythm (measured by any of the three phase-estimating techdowment of the individual as determined by inheritance and early niques) and either the magnitude of the phase delay shift, or the conditioning has more to do with his performance as a pilot than any morningness/eveningness score. The interindividual range of periods incidental use of alcohol” (2). of free-running temperature rhythms is relatively narrow. Thus the The first practical jet airplane: The German Heinkel He 178 flew corresponding range of phases of entrained temperature rhythms on August 17, 1939, with test pilot Erich Warsitz flying. This was would be expected to be small. It may be that the small sample size in the world’s first turbojet and foresaw the introduction of the this study mitigated against detecting subtle differences relating to Messerschmitt Me 262 and Gloster Meteor by the end of World baseline temperature rhythm phase. War II (4). “In conclusion, the present study of the effects of time zone crossings in propellor [sic] aircraft confirms previous findings from jet flights that greater disruption of sleep and the circadian rhythm of Fifty Years Ago in August 1964 core temperature occurs after eastward flights than after westward Motor vehicle accidents in aircrew versus non-aircrew (Institute of flights. Adaptation may be particularly slow after eastward flights Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland): “The hospital admissions and crossing many time zones because of the tendency of some rhythms to deaths from motor vehicle accidents in the United States Air Force resynchronize by delaying while others advance. Inter-individual difwere appr. 1.8 times as frequent among the non-flying as among the ferences may be highlighted in such cases. Extraverts appeared to flying personnel. The rates for officers were from one half to one third adapt more rapidly to the delay shift, perhaps because they are more of those of the corresponding total Air Force population. Even among exposed to the social routine in the new time zone” (1). the officers, the rates of the flyers tended to be lower than those of the non-flyers. Mortality from other injuries, i.e. primarily from aircraft REFERENCES accidents, is high among the flying personnel, but this is not reflected 1. Gander P, Myhre G, Graeber RC, Andersen HT, Lauber JK. in the hospital admission rate. The mortality from motor vehicle acciAdjustment of sleep and the circadian temperature rhythm after dents is compared with United States national figures for men of difflights across nine time zones. Aviat Space Environ Med 1989; ferent ages. The effect of the age structure of the populations and of 60:733–43. exposure is discussed. The conclusion appears valid that Air Force 2. Hamlin PG. Personality reactions in a group of military airplane selection and/or flight training decrease the risk of motor vehicle pilots – with special reference to behavior to alcohol. J Aviat accidents… Med 1939; 11:129–35. “The hypothesis, that Air Force selection and/or flight training 3. Karvonen MJ. Motor vehicle accidents of flying and non-flying would decrease the risk for motor vehicle accidents, finds definite Air Force personnel. Aerosp Med 1964; 35:739–40. support in the presented data. The most appropriate comparison is 4. Warsitz L. The first jet pilot: the story of German test pilot Erich probably made between the flying and non-flying officers. The age Warsitz. Barnsley, England: Pen and Sword Books Ltd.; 2009:125. and social structure of these two groups is evidently rather similar. When the total flying and non-flying personnel are compared, the difference in motor vehicle accidents is much more striking. However, it obviously is accentuated by the inclusion of a larger proportion of men in the high risk age range of 20-24 years among the nonflying personnel. “In assessing the risk, exposure must also be considered. In the present United States society, the ownership of a motor-car is easily This column is prepared each month by Walter Dalitsch III, M.D., accessible to the flying and to the non-flying personnel. Both use moM.P.H. Most of the articles mentioned here were printed over the years tor vehicles for land transports daily. The non-flying personnel may, in the official journal of the Aerospace Medical Association. These and on an average, spend more time in service vehicles, but in privately other articles are available for download from Mira LibrarySmart via owned vehicles, the flying personnel may be exposed at least as much https://submissions.miracd.com/asmaarchive/Login.aspx. as the non-flyers. Reprint & Copyright © by the Aerospace Medical Association, “The conclusion thus appears valid, that Air Force selection and/ Alexandria, VA. or flight training decrease the risk of motor vehicle accidents” (3). DOI: 10.3357/ASEM.4071.2014
874
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 8 x August 2014
