Wow, Venus is hot!
This was a very interesting report.
There is plenty of factors in play. The flight deck lights were on full, which made it more difficult to see clearly. At a closing speed of 900 km/hr, it’s only until 15 seconds prior to contact before one can perceive if the oncoming plane is above or below.
The FO has a baby, and in not getting enough sleep. While I think that fathers should share in the care of babies, parents with jobs where not being alert can endanger others need to find alternatives. This is especially critical in the West to East route, which the report says is more likely to cause fatigue.
The pilot has some blame as he blatantly disregarded the fatigue management procedures in two critical areas. First, he allowed the FO to sleep longer than the permitted 40 minutes, which allows a person to fall into a deeper sleep. And, as noted, the pilot briefed the FO before the FO was alert.
Finally, this is another example of why CNN is no longer a reliable news source. If you want to misrepresent stories to sell commercials, change your name to the National Enquirer.
