Get Your Mask On

On September 5, 2014 the chairman of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association, Larry Glazer and his wife, Jane were on board a Socata TBM 900 single-engine turboprop that crashed into the ocean off the coast of Jamaica. According to the NTSB preliminary report, about an hour and a half into the flight from Rochester, New York to Naples, Florida, the pilot became unresponsive after reporting an indication that is not correct in the plane. The fighter jet pilots who escorted the aircraft to the Cuban airspace border suspected possible hypoxia.

IFR Staff

Friday, November 14, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Recent pilot incapacitation accidents underscore the insidious danger of hypoxia, which impairs judgment and creates a false sense of well-being, even in experienced pilots.
Recognizing hypoxia symptoms during flight is challenging due to cognitive impairment, making a fingertip pulse oximeter an essential, inexpensive tool for objectively monitoring blood oxygen levels, especially above 10,000 feet.
The critical defense against hypoxia or pressurization failure is to immediately don supplemental oxygen, prioritizing this action before attempting any problem diagnosis, and ensuring oxygen masks are readily accessible for quick deployment.

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On September 5, 2014 the chairman of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association, Larry Glazer and his wife, Jane were on board a Socata TBM 900 single-engine turboprop that crashed into the ocean off the coast of Jamaica. According to the NTSB preliminary report, about an hour and a half into the flight from Rochester, New York to Naples, Florida, the pilot became unresponsive after reporting an “indication that is not correct in the plane.” The fighter jet pilots who escorted the aircraft to the Cuban airspace border suspected possible hypoxia.

On August 30, 2014 Ronald Hutchinson, a retired executive from Harley-Davidson, was on board a Cirrus SR22T which crashed into the ocean off the Virginia coast. According to the preliminary NTSB report, the aircraft took off from Waukesha, Wisconsin at 10:43 CDT and climbed to 21,000 feet. The aircraft maintained this attitude for an hour before descending first to 17,000 feet, then to 15,000 feet and finally to 13,100 feet.