Get Home-itis

Between our delayed dispatch paperwork and the last-minute aircraft deicing in Canada, we lost a little over two hours of our day – two hours that we didn’t have. As soon as we took off for the warmer climes of the Carolinas, I started figuring out exactly how much time we’d have left in our duty day. We’d land with just over six hours remaining, but by the time we’d refuel and get our flight plan in the system, there would be no way we’d be able to fly the next leg home. We were looking at a 25-hour day to do so, one more than allowed by our regulations.

Three members of the crew were eager to continue our day to make it home. Since we had previously requested a duty day waiver earlier in the trip, they were hoping that I’d request another waiver so that we could make it home. But it didn’t pass the common sense test: fly all night, a 25-hour duty day, nobody had slept all day, we would have an empty aircraft, and we’d arrive back at home station around six am the next day. It had all the markings of a classical malady well-known to the flying community: Get Home-itis.

Get Home-itis is a syndrome in which crewmembers place the desire to return home after a prolonged absence over more pressing factors, such as fatigue, that could contribute to a flight mishap or accident. Poor judgment is often the first symptom, although irritability, channelized focus (aka one-track mind), and inattention to detail can also result. While it cannot be found in any medical journal or dictionary, Get Home-itis is a very real malady that that has caused mishaps, taken lives, and damaged aircraft.

And three of the five people on my crew had it – bad.

While still en route to our second destination, I had already determined that we couldn’t continue our day. I contacted our command and control agency to let them know, then called the base to ensure we’d have rooms for the night. All but one of the crew gradually accepted the fact that we’d be away from home one more day, after I explained the big picture. Eventually the lone holdout’s story came out and I understood his hesitancy to spend the night at our destination.

It turned out that a few months earlier, he had spent the night at a local hotel just off base. He was understandably disappointed when he discovered that his room had not been cleaned. The piece de resistance of his dismal evening had been when he pulled his sheets back to discover – ahem – something usually flushed after a night of sexual relations. To add insult to injury, when he complained to the base lodging office that had sent his crew to that hotel, they didn’t believe him.

At least lightning doesn’t usually strike twice. There was little chance he’d have a repeat experience, especially since we would be staying at a different place, a newer chain hotel well known for its hospitality. I know it was little recompense for somebody anxious to go home after a longer than usual trip. I’d probably be the poster child for Get Home-itis myself if I had plane tickets to Hawaii a few days later.

I thought everything would work out in the end. We’d have a decent alert the next afternoon and we’d be home at a decent hour. But I was wrong. I was going to pay for playing by the rules.