The study of human factors is about understanding human behavior and their general performance. When applied to aviation operations, human performance is a fundamental aspect of assessing operational safety. Most of the undesired outcomes are majorly attributed to pilot behavior and reaction towards the equipment and the environment. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Human factors are both the capabilities and limitation to apply information to equipment, systems and follow procedures. Accidents in the aviation industry occur due to the interface between pilots and complex procedures and equipment. The human factor leads to unintended errors caused by limited judgment. Thus, human factor knowledge can be used to optimize safety standards and improve safety and performance.
The air in the atmosphere helps both humans and aircraft functioning. The higher the plane goes, the thinner the air becomes, which can affect the pilots' body function. The pilot takes less oxygen, which cannot support his body (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). All living tissues require oxygen for oxidation; appropriate levels of oxidation are vital for breathing. At sea level, the barometric is 760mmHg at 12,000 ft. However, it reduces to 483mmHg and the decrease in atmospheric pressure (Hawkins, 2017). Having fewer oxygen molecules compared to sea level causes oxygen saturation in the blood—hbo2 drops, alerting the body to take compensation measures (BoeingServicesDeutschland 2019, p. 98). Compensation is possible through hypoxic ventilator response. The barometer pressure of the atmosphere reduces than that of the sea-level environment (BoeingServicesDeutschland 2019, p. 103). As a result, the oxygen molecules in the air are not stable; thus, reducing the oxygen content people breathes.
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In the aviation industry, hypoxia is a common occurrence caused by the decompression of limited pressurization of the aircraft cabin (Hawkins, 2017). This condition majorly causes several aircrafts accidents. For example, the Australian air craft crashed in September 2018 ferrying passengers from Perth to Mississippi through the Northern pacific. After climbing for one hour, the aircraft reached a level of 22,000 feet. (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). After 2 hours into the flight, the pilot contacted the Tokyo radio flight services for positioning report (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). The ATSB investigation revealed that the pilot was incapacitated.
A similar situation occurred with Helios Airway flight 522, a passenger flight from Cyprus to the Czech Republic. The aircraft crash in August 2005, killing 121 passengers (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). The accident occurred after the aircraft started climbing up; the pressure inside the cabin gradually decreases as it passed through an altitude of 12,040 feet (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). The cabin altitude warning horn went off. However, the pilot was slow to respond due to incapacitation.
Hypoxia occurs within a few minutes if the cabin pressure altitude rises. Even though healthy people can compensate through hypoxic ventilator response, this can vary. Compensation for lack of oxygen can occur between 10,000ft to 12,000ft (BoeingServicesDeutschland 2019, p. 100). Any interference with threshold progression leads to a shortage of oxygen in the body. Notably, one of the significant threats to flight safety is the incapacitation of pilots caused by hypoxia. Most pilots find it difficult to adapt to low oxygen condition. They operate alone in an unpressured aircraft at the height of more than 22,000 feet, using unsuitable oxygen system, this increase the risk of experiencing hypoxia (BoeingServicesDeutschland 2019, p. 97). Most civil pilot lacks experience like training; these are some of the overlooked concepts by military pilots who are not aware of the impact of hypoxia on mental processes such as perception judgment, and decision making (BoeingServicesDeutschland, 2019, p.96).
Any time a plane flies above 10,000 ft. Hypoxia is likely to occur without using supplemental oxygen or a functional pressurized cabin; hypoxia is expected to occur (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). Hypoxia is a danger to pilots because it happens gradually and can be challenging to recognize. Depressurization occurs quickly. Thus, hypoxia can occur within a few seconds. This happens especially if the cabin pressure altitude increases rapidly to more than 7,500mm or 25,000ft (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). A sudden change of altitude marks the onset of hypoxia. During the onset of hypoxia, the pilot might not feel these feelings since they occur without warning (BoeingServicesDeutschland, 2019, p.101). The pilot might seem to be healthy before the loss of consciousness and cannot recall the incident due to hypoxia.
Several factors determine how to severe the pilot can experience hypoxia, especially after decompression. These include the level of cabin pressure difference and the length of decompression and intensity. Other factors are exposure time, temperature, individual body response and their levels of fitness (BoeingServicesDeutschland, 2019, p.101). Hypoxia is a dangerous condition for solo pilots since they cannot perform cross-checking, which is required. Thus, single pilots cannot quickly identify hypoxia's early symptoms (BoeingServicesDeutschland, 2019, p.96). Loss of cabin pressure can be resolved quickly for the pilot to regain consciousness within fee seconds.
Hypoxia is particularly dangerous since its signs and symptoms do not cause any pain or discomfort until it becomes severe. For example, when the pilot is euphoric, he cannot be aware of his abnormal condition (Legg et al., 2016). However, brain cells might lack oxygen. Loss of reality and being abnormal is a dangerous state and becomes a threat to passengers and pilots. A euphoric pilot cannot act rationally since his brain does not function properly, meaning he cannot make a proper judgment.
The gradual progression of hypoxia makes it challenging to react to one's critical state within the required time (Legg et al., 2016). Besides, hypoxia causes temporary air hunger, which the pilot might not realize because he might not is feeling suffocated during the initial stages. Among all the symptoms, interferences of reasoning and perceptive function are the most dangerous condition that affects the safe flight. Lacking the ability to rational judgment makes it complicated for pilots to identify critical situations (BoeingServicesDeutschland, 2019, p.96). Hypoxia is a threat to flight safety since flying at a higher altitude would require moving through a hostile environment.
With safety precautions, pilots can overcome this problem by taking the necessary preventive measures. Some of the recommendations are for pilots of to beware of two factors, and these are the time of useful consciousness (TUC) (BoeingServicesDeutschland, 2019, p. 101). TUC can be measured by the moment the pilot is exposed to auto the time oxygen supply is available. The other factor is the effective performance time (EPT), which is when the pilot can act and stay focused despite experiencing oxygen deficiency (BoeingServicesDeutschland,2019, p.101). Some of these safety precautions can enable pilots to prevent aircraft accidents.
All these factors are necessary to avert any error caused by hypoxia. Accidents in the aviation industry can be significantly minimized by adopting good risk management practices. The effects of hypoxia can be insidious, thus training on early symptoms of hypoxia can enable the pilot to react immediately. Aircraft operators need to review its operation manual to include oxygen use and risk assessment for position flights.
References
Blaho-Owens, K. (2016). Aviation Medicine: Illness and Limitations for Flying. Encyclopedia of
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BoeingServicesDeutschland. (2019). Human Factor. Cologne, Germany: Boeing Services Deutschland.
Hawkins, F. H. (2017). Human factors in flight . Routledge. https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Human_factors_in_flight.html?id=r4hTAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
Legg, S. J., Gilbey, A., Hill, S., Raman, A., Dubray, A., Iremonger, G., & Mündel, T. (2016).Effects of mild hypoxia in aviation on mood and complex cognition. Applied ergonomics , 53 , 357-363. https://daneshyari.com/article/preview/548316.pdf
Wiegmann, D. A., & Shappell, S. A. (2017). A human error approach to aviation accidentanalysis: The human factors analysis and classification system . https://dvikan.no/ntnu-studentserver/reports/A%20Human%20Error%20Approach%20to%20Aviation%20Accident%20Analysis.pdf
