FB-111A Aircrew Use of Temazepam during Surge Operations,

Abstract : The objective of this field study were to evaluate the performance capabilities and sleep patterns of USAF FB-111A aircrews using temazepam as a sleep aid during premission crewrest. Seven 2-man aircrews participated in two data collection periods. During each period, a crew flew a pair of extended duration nighttime missions, one each on consecutive nights. The mission on the first night was an actual FB-111A training mission. The mission the subsequent night was flown in a high-fidelity simulator. Crews were administrated 30 mg temazepam for the daytime crewrest interval between one pair of actual and simulated missions and placebo for the crewrest between the other pair of missions. Sleep during daytime crewrest was of longer duration and better quality with temazepam than with placebo. Twelve hours after drug ingestion, aircrew performance of the simulator missions and selected laboratory tests was similar to that with with placebo.