Captain ‘Sully’ to press for cargo pilot fatigue rules

The pilot who landed a disabled jetliner safely on the Hudson River in New York City will visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday to press for change in work scheduling rules for cargo airplane pilots.

After the crash of a commercial airliner in 2009 that was attributed partly to pilot fatigue, the Federal Aviation Administration implemented new limits requiring that pilots get at least 10 hours of off-duty time between flight schedules.

Former US Airways pilot Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who landed the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson” flight, will appear at a press conference with the sponsors of a bill to apply the rules to cargo pilots on Wednesday.

{mosads}The legislation, known as the “Safe Skies Act,” is being sponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in the Senate and Reps. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) in the House.

The backers of the measure say the legislation would create one level of safety for the U.S. aviation system.

Sullenberger has come out in favor of applying the fatigue rules to cargo pilots before.

“You know, fatigue is fatigue whether you’re carrying packages or people,” he said last month during an interview on “CBS This Morning.” 

“And while the [current] rule improves safety for passenger flights, it does nothing for cargo flights,” Sullenberger continued. “And that’s really ironic because cargo pilots, as you can imagine flying overnight, are the most vulnerable to fatigue.”