Releases / 3 / CIA-UAP-012

Combating Fatigue In Crewmembers

File

CIA-UAP-012

Type

Document, 2 pages

Agency

CIA

Date

November, 1976

Released

Release 3, June 12, 2026

Open the original on war.gov

The government's description

This November 1976 CIA Foreign Intelligence Information Report summarizes Soviet Aeroflot's involvement in aerospace medical research, including their methods for combating crew fatigue through physical conditioning, automated biological testing equipment that measures vital signs in 1-3 minutes, and discussions about UFO phenomena with a Soviet radiation biologist. A more redacted version of this report has been available on CIA's public website.

Approved for
Domestic CoJkcrion Division
Foreign I nrdlig.cnn: I nformario,1 R c.:pon
01•£CTOIAlf Of
OP( u. IIONS
COUNTRY
USSR
OC0 REPOU NO.
00- B-321 /33474-76
SU6J£CT
Combating Fa tigue in Crewmembers/
Aeroflot Work Cyc les/Use of Drugs/
Bi ologica l Eff ects of Ai r c r n fc Noise/
Radi a t 1•o n Researc h/UFO Phenomena,1
DATE OIS!ll .
lo November l.976
NO. PAGES
4
Prototype Pilot Biological Psychomotor REFERENC ES
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!i~:,~::::t•tial Navigation 1 .. ·- · .. .. I___
-·-------- ·- ---·
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
-·-··----· ·----·-
SOURCE
IJ
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SUMMARY: Aeroflot of-f icials are actively involved in aerospace
medical research. They are concerned with the medical aspects
of physical conditioning which impinge upon crewcember perfor•m•
ance and have perfected several devices which test pilot bio­
logical functioning and motor response ability. Or Inal
Ge"orgiyevich Akoyev, a noted radiation biologist explainr,d cosmic
ray particles (phosphenes) which are causing Aeroflot pilots to
"see" flashes ·of light during night flying. Or [fnu ]
Akutin,
cvhern:ti:ist at the Civil Aviation Institute of Leningrad showed
~ __ prototype pilot biological psychomotor testing equip ­
.____a:e
_ n~t~ w~ i-c~ m
- e~asu r es blood pressure, pulse rate, cardiovascular
function and 1110tor ability. The equipment is automatic and test­
ing is _completed in approximately three minutes.
8
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5
The Soviets deal with crelllllember fatigue in several ways. First, :hey
emphasize and ' prOlllote physical conditioning. • If a creWl!lember 1s phy$ i cally
fit, he wil l be less prone to fatigue and will recover sooner after
tiring flights, Aeroflot provides exercise facilities at all major alr• •
pores, and these facU.ities are supervised by a well known a.thlete. The
second thing they do is to thoroughly test each cre,,,oeober prior to flir,~~
to insu~e his physi~al fitn~s• and 111ental al,ertness. At the present ti-.ttf.,
these tests are cond~ted by a medical team headed by a doctor, usualiy a
woun. A crewmetnber 1a not alloved to fly if he fails the examina·tfon. : •
These teats are nov being automated aad will take only l-3 minutes whim the
prototype equipment becomes operational. Finally, there is a third Approach
Aeroflot 1s using--a prophylactoriWll. Each 111.ljor airport has one, a 3 to
4 story building set off from the 11141n airport buil~1ngs, . but easily acces!
sible by foot. These facilities are well landscaped and are designed to provik.
total rest and relaxation for trans1e~t crewaembera." They have a lat'te kitcher,
¢
3
.,
I

10.

Lepper] 008-321/35874~76

Dr AkKeyey asked for! personal opinion of the UFO pheromenc:,
He was teld thar 99 percent of these occurtencus were traceghle

to either nacural or man-made phenomena such as celestial movement, air-
craft or arvificial satellices, and thac the other one percent cannot he
explaingd--possibly an hallucination. Akoyev then asked, "Do you think
it is possible...could there be some:hing coming’ frum outer space?"

Akutin, w cyberneciciset at the Civil Aviation Instituce of
pas developed several prototypes of pilot cresting equipmenc.
ent is planaed to replace most of the currence ducies of medical

Dr lfau}
Leningr
The equi
nergonnel who examine pilots prior to Flight. The automatic devices will

ba installed in ali airport flight operations facilicies. Akucin and his

rgsoriates temonstrated Ja sec of instruments which automat-
teally & a piloc's blood pressure and pulse rare, record his cardio-
vase ioning with a elect: cardiogram, and test hic motor reaction
proces

The device is activated by inserting a small metallic plate into the
testing machine. The plate, one of which is carried by each crewmember,
contains a biological baseline on that particular individual. His normal
blood pressure, pulse rate, electrocardiogram, and motor ability are coded
into the metal plate. This plate is updated annually,or more often if
required. After rhe plate is inserted into the machine, the pilot places
the middle finger of each hand into two little holes and rests his wrists
on two small metal plates on a table. Small, automatic pneumatic cups
close arcund the fingers and inflate. The machine then measures the blood
pressure and pulse rate by comparing the two fingers, computing a mean, and
then comparing the result with the encoded information on the pilot's plate.
The systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse race are chen displajye.
on the face of che machine in an electronic digital form. At the same tixe
the machine automatically administers an electrocardiogram “across the
heart" and displays this on a cathode-ray tube. If any of these vaiues 12.%:
outside the normal standazd for that particular individual, a light illui.-
tates and further examination is required by a medical doctor. If no light

‘illuminates, the pilot is passed.

The pilot then faces a panel of red and green colored lights. On the panei
are green and red colored buttons. The lights begin to illuminate in a
random fashion, with the pilot being required to press the corresponding
color button immediately to extineuish the colored light. This test
continues for approximately 20-30 seconds, during which che lights flash
in & random sequence. At the end of the testing period, the machine scores
the pilot's performance and digitally displays his score in the number of
correct and wrong responses. If he. scores as high or higher than his
standard, he is passed; if his score is lower, a light illuminates ana
further examination is required by a medical doctor. There are three
separate programs which are randomly selected, making it impossible to

memorize the sequence of the lights.

Finally, the pilot is seated before a minfature cockpit with a control
stick and an attitude indicator. The.control stick must be moved to keep
the attitude indicator (artificial horizon) straight and level. The
indicator pitches up and down and from side to side and very closely dupii-~
cates actual instrument flying conditions. The control stick also

closely approximated necessary pilot skilis.: At the end of this tesr,
the score is again displayed and, depending upon his standard, a pilot passes
or fails. The entire sequence of testing, from ‘taking blood pressure to
the control stick evaluation, takes approximately three minutes. If a
pilot passes all phases, his personal profile plate along with a certizi-
cate card is returned to him. He must present the certificate card to

the flight dispatcher before he is allowed to board the aircraft.

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