Luckily, more than 75% of my working life has been lifeguarding at both the beach and pools. Through lifeguarding, I’ve learned about hypoxia, a deficiency of oxygen on the blood stream. Our atmosphere is made up of, generally, 80% nitrogen, 19% oxygen and 1% other gasses. When flying at increasing altitudes, the air becomes thinner, which means we breathe in less oxygen. The higher a plane goes, the less oxygen is available for the body to use. While flying at these higher altitudes, people sometimes experience hypoxia, which, as stated before, is a deficiency of oxygen in the blood stream.
Student pilots learn what the effects of oxygen are and what the regulations are which can prevent hypoxia. There are five different types of hypoxia, but private pilots only have to know about the general form of hypoxia. When I get into instrument and commercial classes, I’ll learn what the different types are. There are many different symptoms of hypoxia, which include headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, and a feeling of euphoria. During the class where hypoxia was explained, we learned how cyanosis, a blue coloration of the skin, is also a tell tale sign of hypoxia. However for the purpose of this post, I won’t go into the detail of the hemoglobin and red blood cell distribution. Either way, it’s important to know about the signs and symptoms of hypoxia.
An oxygen supply is a method which the FAA regulations suggest in order to combat the effects of hypoxia at higher altitudes. There are recommendations by the federal aviation regulations, and then there are actual regulations. The recommendations are that during night flight, oxygen should be provided when flying at or above 5,000 feet. During daytime flying, oxygen is recommended to be available while flying at or above 10,000 feet. This rule of thumb is different from the actual regulations about oxygen on board an airplane. The official regulations on supplemental oxygen can be found here at FAR 91.211. Basically they state that an airplane must be equipped with a 30 minute oxygen supply when traveling between 12,500 and 14,000 feet. If flying at or above 15,000 feet, oxygen must be provided for every person onboard the plane. This means that crew and passengers must be offered and have access to oxygen at or above 15,000 feet, but do not necessarily need to use it.
Hypoxia is a topic which I wasn’t expecting to learn about, but in hindsight, it makes sense that pilots need to know about oxygen deficiency.
Student pilots learn what the effects of oxygen are and what the regulations are which can prevent hypoxia. There are five different types of hypoxia, but private pilots only have to know about the general form of hypoxia. When I get into instrument and commercial classes, I’ll learn what the different types are. There are many different symptoms of hypoxia, which include headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, and a feeling of euphoria. During the class where hypoxia was explained, we learned how cyanosis, a blue coloration of the skin, is also a tell tale sign of hypoxia. However for the purpose of this post, I won’t go into the detail of the hemoglobin and red blood cell distribution. Either way, it’s important to know about the signs and symptoms of hypoxia.
An oxygen supply is a method which the FAA regulations suggest in order to combat the effects of hypoxia at higher altitudes. There are recommendations by the federal aviation regulations, and then there are actual regulations. The recommendations are that during night flight, oxygen should be provided when flying at or above 5,000 feet. During daytime flying, oxygen is recommended to be available while flying at or above 10,000 feet. This rule of thumb is different from the actual regulations about oxygen on board an airplane. The official regulations on supplemental oxygen can be found here at FAR 91.211. Basically they state that an airplane must be equipped with a 30 minute oxygen supply when traveling between 12,500 and 14,000 feet. If flying at or above 15,000 feet, oxygen must be provided for every person onboard the plane. This means that crew and passengers must be offered and have access to oxygen at or above 15,000 feet, but do not necessarily need to use it.
Hypoxia is a topic which I wasn’t expecting to learn about, but in hindsight, it makes sense that pilots need to know about oxygen deficiency.
