Date: 201706
Aircraft: Widebody; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Fatigue
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Pre-flight
Result: General Work Refused
Contributing factors: Company Policy; Human Factors
Primary problem: Company Policy

Narrative: I commute and took a flight to SFO. I had a full night's rest. On the flight to ZZZZ I slept in the bunk for about 1-2 hours; which is about normal. The breaks were split 3 ways at around 3 hours each. We arrived very late in the day. I did not sleep during my nap due to air conditioning not keeping the room cool at all. It was a very hot day. I thought it would work better at night; and I tried to sleep with the windows open but it was still too hot and extremely noisy. Our rooms are at the back of the hotel and face the courtyard and side street where they unload trucks; load large buses (with engines running most of the time); take the trash; and do maintenance on who knows. Flight to and from ZZZ; no sleep in the bunk due to the very short breaks. Had very adequate rest at the Hotel; which is a lovely hotel and I always ask for a room in the front or the other side and their response is always they do not put pilots in the front rooms. I could only sleep for about 2 hours during my nap due to the heat in the room and about 6 hours sleep that night. Could not keep the windows open due to the early bed time required (still light out!) and all the noise in the back of the hotel. We had a very early get up for the flight back to SFO; and I slept for about an hour in the bunk. There was turbulence for the first bit and then just couldn't sleep any more even though I was tired. I eat very healthy and walked 4-8 miles per day on all 3 layovers. Obviously on day 1 and 6 the only exercise available is walking the terminals. A six day trip is very hard on the body. Your circadian rhythm is really out of whack. Fatigue builds up and becomes chronic and the recovery time is more than for a regular 3 or 4 day 2 segment international trip; which is what I usually fly. I knew that 2 days off between these trips would not be enough recovery time. In the first two nights at home my body clock was definitely not back on [home] time. I would fall asleep early in the evening; wake up in the middle of the night and be up for hours; then when I did sleep it was fitfully. I did try to mitigate fatigue by taking naps during the day and exercising but still felt like a zombie; which is normal for recovery time. The third night; I slept more regularly but was nowhere near Fit for Duty for the early departure. This is my first fatigue call; and it was not an easy call to make. I tried to trade out of the trip; move it back one day; drop it; asked for trades but the trip trade system (outside of the normal trades) would not allow any of it; and there were plenty of trips open.




Synopsis: Air carrier First Officer reported calling in fatigued for an assignment that followed a six-day trip which included interrupted off-hour sleep and multiple time zone crossings.