Instant Hypoxia

[Cedhed]

Before I start, I'd just like to say this is the best addon for flightsim since... well flightsim!

On a recent long cross country through mountainous terrain I ran into a problem with the Oxygen requirements of FSPassengers.

I was using real world weather and aparrently a weather station either misreported its barometric pressure or was having a freak storm
causing the autopilot to believe that it was 600 ft below it's actual altitude (11,900ft). The autopilot corrected and climbed towards 12,500
msl, Yielding a passenger danger level, followed by screaming (?!) wich alerted me to the issue. They were above 12,000 feet for less
than 5 minutes and somehow the danger level reached 104% and the passenger panic reached 100%. This little venture cost me
800pts and 10% company rating (it was in the low 90s).

My problem with this is, they were not high enough or up there long enough to be in any perceivable or real danger to passengers, nor
did I violate FAA oxygen requirements.

Here is the actual FAR on the subject

91.211 Supplemental Oxygen

(a) General. No person may operate a civil aircraft of
U.S. registry —

(1) At cabin pressure altitudes above 12,500 feet (MSL) up to
and including 14,000 feet (MSL) unless the required minimum
flight crew is provided with and uses supplemental oxygen for
that part of the flight at those altitudes that is of more
than 30 minutes duration;

(2) At cabin pressure altitudes above 14,000 feet (MSL) unless
the required minimum flight crew is provided with and uses
supplemental oxygen during the entire flight time at those
altitudes; and

(3) At cabin pressure altitudes above 15,000 feet (MSL) unless
each occupant of the aircraft is provided with supplemental
oxygen.

So if I had been above 12,500 for an additional 25 minutes I, as the pilot, would have been required oxygen. The passengers would not
have required oxygen until 15,000 ft!

So other than making my Baron pressurized, is there any other way to get around this? And is there any way to remove my undeserved
penalty points?

[pagir]

Welcome here Sedhed!

You can't remove your undeserved penalty points.

This said, I'm sure Dan will be happy to review your post.

And you can't operate unpressurized aircraft over 10 000 if you're not compliant to sec. 135.157

Sec. 135.157 - Oxygen equipment requirements.

(a) Unpressurized aircraft. No person may operate an unpressurized aircraft at altitudes prescribed in this section unless it is equipped
with enough oxygen dispensers and oxygen to supply the pilots under §135.89(a) and to supply, when flying --

(1) At altitudes above 10,000 feet through 15,000 feet MSL, oxygen to at least 10 percent of the occupants of the aircraft, other than the
pilots, for that part of the flight at those altitudes that is of more than 30 minutes duration; and

(2) Above 15,000 feet MSL, oxygen to each occupant of the aircraft other than the pilots.


Here a graphic of the oxygen saturation vs altitude from http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/181893...l#altitude :



And a citation from this page:

"In a normal, healthy individual, sea level pressure is sufficient to cause the blood leaving the lungs to be almost totally (97%) saturated
with oxygen. At 10,000 feet the saturation has dropped to almost 90% -- still sufficient for nearly all usual life functions. An oxygen
saturation of 93% is considered by medical folks to be the low limit of normal functioning. On top of Pike's Peak (about 14,500 feet and
438 mm Hg atmospheric pressure) the oxygen saturation has dropped to about 80%. Many people, if left in this rarefied air for some
period, will develop mountain or altitude sickness: vertigo, nausea, weakness, hyperpnea (increased breathing), incoordination, slowed
thinking, dimmed vision and increased heart rate. "


So it's safer to stay lower... At 12 500 it's not that safe...

But maybe your plane didn't have the oxygen for the 10% passengers???

Pagir



Post Edited ( 07-29-05 23:04 )

[Cedhed]

True but I can't imaigne any sane pilot operating an air taxi service out of the Colorado rockies that wouldn't equip their aircraft with a
stanby oxygen system. Especially considering one can be had for less than $700 from Sporty's. And that being said one is still not
required to actually use oxygen for passengers until above 15,000.

And while I would love to fly lower, my location tends to preclude flight at much less than 10,000-11,000 feet. In fact there are a bunch of
destinations I would love to fly to that are just about unreachable without flying above 12,000. And I know a lot of people that live at or
above 10,000 feet.

A couple of side notes: The plane's highest altitude was 12,100 feet. So oxygen was not required at all at that altitude.

And given that one of the side effects of hypoxia is a sense of euphoria I doubt the passengers would be screaming and putting on their
seatbelts. In fact I've heard rumors, (and I am sure they are nothing but ) of some commuter pilots increasing the cabin altitude in order
to help their pax settle down a bit.

And should I equip myself with supplemental oxygen next time I drive up Pikes Peak?

[pagir]

Anyway, I mentioned your point in the beta forum.

Pagir

[Cedhed]

Thank you.

No to go re-earn those points.