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Comment by klabb3 | Hacker News Reader

> How many airplanes crashed due to The pilot being on drugs?

This is an interesting question but not all drugs decrease performance. For instance, if a pilot responsibly takes some wakey meds before landing a long haul flight it may be a good thing. There’s a reason for the “I can’t function before the morning coffee” expression.

I remember a documentary many years ago about long haul pilots who went partying HARD the day before flying back from Bangkok, Tokyo or places like that. They wouldn’t have been allowed to drive, but flew hundreds of passengers. It was filmed undercover, but I don’t remember if there was a backlash/consequences.

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I can’t function before the morning coffee

i recently met someone who stopped drinking coffee and after a while realized that the only reason he could not function without having a coffee before was that he must have been addicted to it. once he got off that addiction the problem went away.

the only reason that stops me from functioning in the morning is lack of sleep.

I was never "can't function" level, but stopping caffeine did open my eyes to how much of a fog I was in until the caffeine was dripped in. After a month or so of no caffeine I started realizing I could just wake up and feel instantly as alert as I normally would an hour or so into my day when taking caffeine.

But ultimately it comes down to sleep. Caffeine just masked sleep problems. If I don't sleep well, I still crave it. If I sleep well, I don't think about it anymore.

> There’s a reason for the “I can’t function before the morning coffee” expression.

Yeah, a lot of people tend to be later-risers. The realities of the 9-5 job mean that they have to get up at 6-7 to get the kids ready for school, then get themselves ready for work, and then the commute to work... despite that going completely against their chronotype.

WFH alleviates a lot of that stress.

In the film Flight it is implied the plane possibly does not crash because the pilot is on drugs.

The plane did crash. There was one fatality. That is because the pilot was skilled.

Unfortunately the pilot was also drunk. And he tried to shift the blame of the vodka bottle to the deceased person. There is no amount of technical skill that should permit someone like that behind a stick ever again.

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