Know Your Oxygen Needs

Pia Bergqvist

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 07:04 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilots should set personal oxygen use limits much lower than FAA requirements, potentially starting supplemental oxygen at 5,000 feet, especially at night, due to decreasing oxygen partial pressure at altitude.
Hypoxia symptoms are highly individual, often subtle initially (e.g., headache, eye pressure), and can progress to severe impairments like loss of judgment or diminished vision, critical for flight safety.
Recognizing one's unique first signs of hypoxia through high-altitude training is crucial, as the condition is easily remedied by increasing oxygen intake (descent, supplemental oxygen, or cabin pressurization).

See a mistake? Contact us.

Oxygen use is one of many factors in aviation where it’s a good idea to set your own limits, which should also be much lower than those required by the FAA. Legal requirements for oxygen aren’t applicable until you fly above 12,500 feet, but in some cases you may want to start inhaling supplemental oxygen as low as 5,000 feet.

As you climb higher into the atmosphere, the partial pressure of oxygen decreases. This means that the number of oxygen molecules in each volume of breath decreases and many of the hemoglobin molecules that normally deliver oxygen to the cells travel empty. Gradually, you’ll experience increasing levels of hypoxia — a word of Greek origin that means a lower-than-normal amount of oxygen.