Page 12 - Aerotech News and Review, May 28, 2021

NASA sheds new

light on known pilot

breathing issues in

jet aircraft Phillip Wellner from Life Support
conducts a spirometry test on
NASA pilot Nils Larson before a
Pilot Breathing Assessment flight at
Pilots who fly high-performance jet cedure to evaluate an aircraft’s pilot NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research
aircraft use oxygen masks and other breathing system, and trusting pilot Center in California in 2019. This test
equipment to help them breathe when reports of breathing as a significant measures the volume of air inspired
flying and maneuvering at high alti- indication of breathing system perfor- and expired by the lungs. This test
was conducted before and after many
tudes. mance. of the flights.
Breathing problems have been en- “The project gave us the first real
countered during some of these flights look into how pilots interact and NASA photograph by Carla Thomas
since 2010 but the source of these breathe with a high-performance air- ioral changes, and fatigue that may be than 4,750 minutes of analyzable data isodes. Although these flights did not
problems was not understood. craft’s breathing system,” said Clint life threatening for pilots. The extent about how the pilots interacted with reach the full extent of military combat
The Pilot Breathing Assess- Cragg, principal engineer of the NASA to how a pilot’s lungs transmit oxygen the aircraft while flying. operations, breathing issues did occur
ment project set out to discover why Engineering and Safety Center. “Nota- to the brain while breathing through During the testing, the team made during the flights and are described
pilots were still having breathing chal- bly, we made a number of discoveries oxygen systems can fluctuate while measurements within the pilots’ inha- in the report. In support of follow-on
lenges, by documenting in depth how that other researchers and breathing flying a variety of scenarios, which lation and exhalation oxygen lines, as work by the U.S. military, this report
pilots breathe while in flight. Begin- system designers will be able to use can sometimes result in these episodes. well as inside their masks. In addition,
ning in early 2018, this was accom- for future developments.” “This information matters to the pi- spirometry tests to measure the vol- presents a standardized flight test pro-
plished by using NASA test pilots This report and testing follow a lot community, and specifically to the ume of air inspired and expired by the cedure to establish a baseline of air-
flying NASA’s F-15 and F-18 aircraft previous assessment in response to a test community, because it shows us lungs were conducted before and after craft breathing system performance.
based at Armstrong Flight Research U.S. Navy request made in 2017 to how important the integration and test- many of the flights. This measured The NESC team noted that data
Center in Edwards, Calif. the NESC, located at NASA’s Langley ing of these systems is to pilot health,” how much air the pilots were able to needed to make informed decisions
The project released its findings in a Research Center in Langley, Virginia. said Kevin Hall, Air Force F-35/F-16 breathe out by exhaling as forcefully about human and system interactions
final report in March 2021, which in- The request was to conduct an inde- test pilot. “It also reinforces the im- and for as long as they could. Pilot did not exist prior to this review. The
cludes recommendations for users and pendent review of the Navy’s effort portance of pilots to speak up when questionnaires before and after each team was also afforded the opportu-
manufacturers of the aircraft systems. to address an increased occurrence of they experience trouble with breath- flight asked about diet, exercise, and nity to review and analyze a limited
Some of these suggestions include physiological episodes among pilots ing systems.” other factors that could affect the mis-
measuring pilot breathing on location across its fleet of F/A-18 aircraft. Using five NASA test pilots flying sion. amount of F-35 pilot breathing data.
and using the results to create future Pilot physiological episodes can six flight profiles in F-18A/B or F-15D Test flight profiles were chosen to be Also, F-35 pilots who have experi-
hardware to meet pilot physiological result in cognitive impairment, numb- aircraft, the assessment logged more challenging but still within a moderate enced physiological episodes were
needs, a standardized flight test pro- ness, tingling, lightheadedness, behav- than 100 flights and gathered more range to avoid risk of physiological ep- interviewed for the report.
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