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WEST JORDAN — Several hundred Utah pilots signed up to go through a special training course at South Valley Regional Airport this weekend, involving dizzying and often confusing experiences.
A Plexiglas chamber, called a Portable Reduced Oxygen Training Enclosure, (PROTE) simulates high-altitude oxygen conditions, which can quickly impair a pilot if he or she doesn't recognize the symptoms. And pilots certainly cannot experience issues like that while in the air.
Pilot and Utah State student Kan Okabe was having trouble following the commands of the instructors. Inside the chamber, which is about 10 feet by 15 feet, the simulated altitude was about 28,000 feet. It only took a few minutes for Okabe's oxygen level to dramatically drop, a condition known as “hypoxia.” During the five-minute test, Okabe said he experienced narrowed vision and shaky hands.
“My mind is like, I just, I was just kind of gone I think,” Okabe said.
That’s the whole idea behind this training course, to teach pilots what can happen to them when they fly at high altitudes.
“Basically, what we're doing is separating the oxygen and the nitrogen by converters”, said Rogers Shaw, one of the trainers with the FAA’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. “So when you walk into that chamber, you're getting 7 percent oxygen … instead of (the normal) 20 percent.”
Pilots who regularly fly higher than 25,000 feet are required by law to have training in hypoxia, but the instructors recommend that all pilots go through the course to add another layer of safety.
Each pilot wears a small monitor that measures heart rate and oxygen saturation levels. They’re given a worksheet to do crossword puzzles and solve simple math problems, which become difficult when certain symptoms kick in.
Brian Andersen’s business owns a plane that he flies regularly. “I primarily felt some dizziness and a little bit of tingling in my hands,” he said. “The airplane that I have is pressurized, so in theory you would never feel this. But in the event you lose pressurization, I really wanted to know what would happen.”
“We try to get them to have three to four good symptoms and to recognize those symptoms,” Shaw said. “So if they’re flying about 10,000 feet and they get those symptoms, they'll say oh, I've got a problem, we need some oxygen.”
The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute has operated a training center in Oklahoma City going back to the 1950s. Until now, pilots had to travel there to take the safety courses. Beginning last year, the instructors started taking the simulators on the road. They’ll visit four cities this summer, including this weekend’s session at South Valley Regional Airport in West Jordan.
It’s a little intimidating when you first look at the contraption. There are tanks, hoses and masks all linked up to mimic high altitude conditions. Each person has his or her own personal symptoms, and that’s why these courses are taught, so that the pilots know when they may be having problems.
Paul Wizner, who flies for the federal government, said he felt symptoms as soon as he walked inside.
“At first I started feeling tingly and euphoric, and felt kind of warm. Just felt funny,” he said.
