Please answer to the best of your knowledge and understanding the following questions pertaining to Hyperventilation in aviation. Continue reading
Training the future Aerospace Physician
If one is asked to visualise the role of Aerospace Physician in emerging decades, especially in the Indian context, the need for redefining training is of foremost consequence to prepare the future practitioners who shall be armed with adequate knowledge, exploit the technology and actively apply the concept of holistic care. Continue reading
1911 in Aviation History – India and the World
Henri Pequet (1) flew the first official flight in India in Sommer (2) biplane, powered by 50 hp Gnôme engine, on 18 Feb 1911. This is the also the first recorded airmail flight (3). Pequet carried more than 6000 pieces of mail over a distance of 6 miles from Allahabad to Naini in Northern India.
Stressed Out or Stretched beyond…?
‘Stress’ is the sum of all non-specific changes caused by a situational disturbance in the psycho-physiological milieu of an individual, pilots included!
Pilots operate in a three-dimensional dynamic environment, often under the pressure of limited time. The aerospace operational environment is rich in potential stresses: physical, physiological and psychological. While the majority, with time, learn to cope with the routine stresses of aviation, undoubtedly some pilots may continue to remain stressed out. Being under stressful conditions, is like stretching a rubber/elastic band, which snaps when pulled beyond its capacity. Similar is the state of a “stressed out pilot”, who when stretched beyond tolerance, could have compromised performance in flight, thus affecting the aviation safety. Continue reading
Aerotoxic Syndrome – A cause for concern?
On a flight in 2010, the aircrew – two pilots and five flight attendants, smelt a kind of dirty socks odour while boarding their flight. Not knowing about the source or cause of this foul odour, they undertook the flight. But on landing the entire crew and few passengers needed emergency medical care. Both the pilots have not recovered fully, and four of the five flight attendants continue to suffer from headaches, memory loss, tremors and other symptoms (1). In another instance, an Australian appeal court in 2010 was probably the first one to award substantial damages to a cabin crew, whose respiratory illness was attributed to toxic fumes in cabin air (2). Continue reading