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College Lab Focuses On Altitude-Induced Problems

Photo from Bob Ross

This lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach allows researchers to study the effects of hypoxia on pilots.

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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 27, 2009

Updated: 03/27/2009 02:06 pm

In 1999, pro golfer Payne Stewart and five others died in a crash of a flight bound from Orlando to Dallas that wound up in South Dakota. The occupants of the Learjet apparently succumbed to altitude-induced hypoxia, caused by loss of cabin pressure.

In 2005, all 121 people aboard a Greek Helios Airways Boeing 737 died in another hypoxia-related crash. Since 1965, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has reported at least 40 aircraft accidents related to hypoxia.

In an effort to teach pilots how to recognize the symptoms of oxygen loss, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach has opened the first High Altitude Laboratory at a U.S. university.

Embry-Riddle will offer the training to flight schools and corporate aviation operators, which could provide the companies with opportunities to save on their insurance, university spokeswoman Pam Small said.

"Civilian aviation and airline training only requires a knowledge of high altitude operations, but does not require a pilot to ever experience hypoxia or the recovery effectiveness," Small said "It's like training a pilot to fly but never demonstrating a stall to them. Would they really be able to recognize and recover from one if it happened?"

Embry-Riddle's lab was designed by Colorado Altitude Training, an altitude simulation and research firm in Boulder, Colo. It can accommodate eight to 10 people per training session and up to 500 flight students a year.

"Hypoxia affects people differently, and the rate of onset varies for each person," said Glenn Harmon, an aerospace physiologist and assistant professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle. "Symptoms can include tunnel vision, nausea, euphoria, dizziness, tingling, fatigue, and loss of coordination."

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

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