Aircraft pilots and other flight crew members are subject to many factors that can lead to physical or mental fatigue, drowsiness, and inattention. Accordingly, it has been proposed to monitor pilot fatigue during flight using certain flight deck subsystems. For example, recent advances in sensing technology, such as electroencephalographic (EEG) sensors, have dramatically reduced the cost and practicality of monitoring the attentiveness of pilots in real-time during flight. Other proposed approaches involve technologies such as facial expression recognition, eyelid movement analysis, flight deck interaction monitoring, and physical activity monitoring.
Existing systems that monitor pilot fatigue may generate an alarm or a notification when pilot fatigue is detected. These systems, however, do not attempt to re-engage fatigued or inattentive pilots through adapting interactions with the flight deck. Nor do these systems adjust or alter the manner in which the onboard alerting system generates alerts in the flight deck. Accordingly, it is desirable to have an onboard alerting system that reacts in an intelligent manner when pilot fatigue is detected. In addition, it is desirable to have an onboard system that attempts to re-engage a fatigued flight crew member via interaction and mental stimulation. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.