Crews Learn About Survival At All Operating Altitudes
In Monday's Aero-Craft audio
feature, ANN resident CFI Tom Turner talked of the
risks and rewards associated with flying at high altitudes. That
lesson is certainly not lost on airmen in the US Air Force... as
approximately 35,000 students take physiological training each year
to gain a better understanding of survival in the flight
environment. That training covers problems in both high and low
altitudes... and recommends procedures to prevent or minimize human
factor errors that occur in flight.
Airmen at the 21st Aerospace Medical Squadron Aerospace
Physiological Branch train aircrew members to become familiar with
the inherent risks associated with anything that travels through
the air at speeds sometimes greater than sound... and at heights
sometimes greater than 70,000 feet.
The first part of the training is in the classroom. Aircrew
members are educated in the basic principle of physics governing
altitude. They learn about the barometric pressure changes and its
affect on gases, the change in temperature associated with these
barometric changes as well as how the physical composition of
ambient air is affected by pressure changes.
While every portion of physiological training could literally
determine the survival or loss of aircrews and their aircraft, the
initial phase of the training is paramount, because it is the
cornerstone of the remainder of the training, according to branch
officials. Physiological training is constant regardless of the
type of aircraft flown in an Airman's career.
Students progress from the classroom to a hands-on, interactive
phase that teaches prevention, recognition and recovery. From there
it is on to the altitude chamber.
Students go through a dry run of the chamber after being given
an overview of the flight, including what to expect at what time or
which simulated flight level, and the accompanying safety
procedures. At the same time students also practice connecting,
disconnecting and checking gear to ensure they are doing it
properly and that they are comfortable with it.
It is important for the students to experience hypoxia in the
altitude chamber in order to recognize their own individual signs,
how long it took them to experience it after exposure and their
reaction time for recovery actions. Students go through the various
stages, hold out as long as they feel comfortable and then recover
by themselves by hooking up and restarting their oxygen
systems.
Branch technicians insist that physiological training is a vital
part in the overall training cycle of any aircrew member.
Instructors teach their classes with the mindset that every student
in the class will need this training to save their life the next
time they climb into an aircraft.
(Aero-News salutes Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo, Air Force
Print News)