Mary Wallace
Question:131 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Transport his views on whether the avoidance of cumulative fatigue is critical for aviation safety and whether in order to prevent airline accidents due to fatigued pilots at the controls of aircraft, flight and duty time limits are not only essential but the limits established must be transparently seen to have been derived from a scientific and medical basis; if, under the current Simpson proposals, a pilot could start work at 9 a.m. and work for 14 hours; if this would bring a pilot into a region of moderate to severe fatigue; if severe fatigue sets in after nine and a half hours on duty; and if his attention has been drawn to the importance of this matter to both pilots and the travelling public. [28507/03]