The debate over whether new rest rules for commercial airline pilots should apply to their counterparts flying cargo gained new attention today when a federal hearing revealed that a UPS pilot who died in a crash told a colleague that his work schedule was “killing” him.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash of a UPS jumbo jet on approach to the airport in Birmingham, Ala., before dawn on Aug. 14, which killed both the captain, Cerea Beal, 58, and the first officer, Shanda Fanning, 37. The Airbus A300 jet was descending too steeply and struck a hill a mile from the runway, erupting into flames.