oitK toun or 
om A tiO H j
COUNTRY USSR
Approved for Relaas-e—21124------------  —
G 0 N -F ■! U E H r 'Hrt
Dom estic C ollection Division
Foreign Intelligence Inform ation Report
DCO REPORT NO. 00-8-321/33474-76
SU B JE C T C om bating Fatigue in C rew m em bers/ DATE  DiSIR. Io Novem ber 1.9 76
Aeroflot W ork C ycles/U se of Drugs/
B iological E ffects of Aircraft Noise/ NO  PAG E S 4
SU M M ARY : Aeroflot officials are actively involved in aerospace 
m edical research. They are concerned w ith the m edical aspects 
of physical conditioning w hich im pinge upon crew m em ber perform ­
ance and have perfected several devices w hich test pilot bio­
logical functioning and m otor response ability. Dr Inal 
G eorgiyevlch Akoyev, a noted radiation biologist explained cosm ic 
ray particles (phosphenes) w hich are causing Aeroflot pilots to 
"see” flashes of light during night flying. Dr [fnu] Akutin, 
cvbernetlcist at the C ivil Aviation Institute of L eningrad show ed 
prototype pilot biological psychom otor testing equip­
m ent w hich m easures blood pressure, pulse rate, cardiovascular 
function and m otor ability. The equipm ent is autom atic and test­
ing is com pleted in approxim ately three m inutes.
1. The Soviets deal w ith crew m em ber fatigue in several w ays. First, they 
em phasize and prom ote physical conditioning. If a crew m em ber is physically 
fit, he w ill be less prone to fatigue and w ill recover sooner after 
tiring flights. Aeroflot provides exercise facilities at all m ajor air­
ports, and these facilities are supervised by a w ell know n athlete. The 
second thing they do is to thoroughly test each crew m em ber prior to flight 
to insure his physical fitness and m ental alertness. At the present tiU ne, 
these tests are conducted by a m edical team  headed by a doctor, usually a 
w om an. A crew m em ber is not allow ed to fly if he fails the exam ination.: 
These tests are now  being autom ated and w ill take only 1-3  m inutes w hen the 
prototype equipm ent becom es operational. Finally, there is a third approach 
Aeroflot is using— a prophylactoriun. E ach m ajor airport has one, a 3  to 
4 story building set off from  the m ain airport buildings, but easily acces­
sible by foot. These facilities are w ell landscaped and are designed to provide- 
total rest and relaxation for transient crew m em bers. They have a large kitchen


I C-^-F-bD^ T I A L J O O 3 -3 2 1/3 JA74-76
3
6 , Dr Akayev asked for____________ personal opinion of the pF# phenom enon.
H e w as told that 99 percent of these occurrences w ere traceable
to either natural or m an-m ade phenom ena such at; celestial m ovem ent, air­
craft or artificial satellites, and that the other one percent cannot he 
explained--possibly an hallucination. Akoyev then asked, “Do you think 
it is possible...could there be som ething com ing’ from  outer space? 0
7. Dr ifnuj A^L AO * d cyberneticist at the C ivil Aviation Institute of 
L eningrad, has developed several prototypes of pilot testing equipm ent. 
The equ r M .w nc is planned to replace m ost of the current duties of m edical 
personnel w ho exam ine pilots prior to flight. The autom atic devices w ill 
be installed in ali airport flight operations facilities. Akucin and his 
.jssocia:o.3  .lem onstraced a sec of instrum ents w hich autom at-
trail* m u *''a re a pilot $ blood pressure and pulse rate, record his cardio- 
vascK U : * .i'k  cion :ng w ith a: elects .a rd iogram , and test hi-.; m otor: reaction 
process.
8. The device is activated by inserting a sm all m etallic place into the 
testing m achine. The plate, one of w hich is carried by each crew m em ber, 
contains a biological baseline on that particular individual. H is norm al 
blood pressure, pulse rate, electrocardiogram , and m otor ability are coded 
into the m etal plate. This plate is updated annually,or m ore often if 
required. After the plate is inserted into the m achine, the pilot places 
the m iddle finger of each hand into tw o little holes and rests his w rists 
on tw o sm all m etal plates on a table. Sm all, autom atic pneum atic cups 
close around the fingers and inflate. The m achine then m easures the blood 
pressure and pulse rate by com paring the tw o fingers, com puting a m ean, and 
then com paring the result w ith the encoded inform ation on the pilot’s plate. 
The systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse race are then displayed 
on the face of the m achine in an electronic digital form . At the sam e tlae 
the m achine autom atically adm inisters an electrocardiogram  ’’across the 
heart” and displays this on a cathode-ray tube. If any of these values ^.^ 
outside the norm al standard for that particular individual, a light illu> v. • 
rates and further exam ination is required by a m edical doctor. If no light 
illum inates, the pilot is passed*
9 . The pilot then faces a panel of red and green colored lights. O n the panel 
are green and red colored buttons. The lights begin to illum inate in a 
random  fashion, w ith the pilot being required to press the corresponding 
color button im m ediately to extinguish the colored light. This test 
continues for approxim ately 2 0-3 0 seconds, during w hich the lights flash 
in & random  sequence. At the end of the testing period, the m achine scores 
the pilot’s perform ance and digitally displays his score in the num ber of 
correct and w rong responses. If he scores as high or higher than his 
standard, he is passed; if his score is low er, a light Illum inates ano 
further exam ination is required by a m edical doctor. There are three 
separate program s w hich are random ly selected, m aking it im possible to 
m em orize the sequence of the lights*
10. finally, the pilot is seated before a m iniature cockpit w ith a control 
stick and an attitude Indicator.. The control stick m ust be m oved to keep 
the attitude indicator (artificial horizon) straight and level. The 
Indicator pitches up and dow n and from  side to side and very closely dupli­
cates actual instrum ent flying conditions. The control stick also 
closely approxim ated necessary pilot skills. At the end of this test, 
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 approxim ately three m inutes. If a 
pilot passes all phases, his personal profile plate along w ith a certifi­
cate card is returned to him . H e m ust present the certificate card to 
the flight dispatcher before he is allow ed to board the aircraft.
M U *