Flight Training - June 2020 - 14

PREFLIGHT FLIGHT LESSON

BY JOE STANDLEY

ANOTHER 10 MINUTES
CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING HAPPENS QUICKLY

WHAT HAPPENED

"Part of me wondered if it might be
carbon monoxide,
even though there
wasn't a strong
smell of exhaust
and the detector
indicated everything
was good."

I WENT UP WITH MY INSTRUMENT STUDENT, KEN, IN

FLIGHT TRAINING JUNE 2020

AEROMEDICAL FACTORS

SIGNS OF CO
Act immediately if you
see signs or symptoms
Symptoms of carbon
monoxide poisoning
include headache, dizziness, blurred vision,
drowsiness, or muscle
weakness. If you smell
an exhaust odor or
experience symptoms,
act quickly: Turn off the
heater, open air vents
and windows, and use
supplemental oxygen if
you have it.

The source of this
carbon monoxide
was a hole in the
muffler.

DATE
OPENED

REPLACE
AFTER 12
MONTHS

Color restores as air freshens

We hooked up the towbar. Ken then
started wobbling and I caught him and
kept him from falling. I laid him on his
back and his body started to lightly shake.
One of the airport staff was in the hangar
next to us. I asked him to call an ambulance.
When it arrived, I asked to be checked, too. I
noticed my feet were numb from the ankles
down and my hands and lips felt the same.
My hands were shaking. A headache soon
followed, which lasted all night.
The paramedics said that with anything
over 12 percent carbon monoxide, it is
recommended that you go into an oxygen
chamber. Ken's carbon monoxide level was
at 26 percent and mine was at 19 percent.
Neither of us wanted to sit in a tent for 24
hours. They said we would still be fine,
but it might take a day or two to get back
to normal levels. Ken later told me that he
was struggling to understand the instruments on the way back. He also didn't
remember taxiing back or shutting down.
This wasn't easy to recognize, especially with a brand-new carbon monoxide
detector saying we were safe. Spend $160 on
a portable electronic detector; they are more
sensitive and accurate than the $10 one.
If you smell fumes and you are dizzy, get
back to the airport. It took 15 minutes from
the time the dizziness started to the point
where one of us couldn't function. Another
10 minutes, and we both would have been
unconscious on our way back to the airport.
Ken was going to travel in that airplane with his family that weekend. The
effects we experienced could have been
much worse in a small child, and no one
would have noticed since kids usually
fall asleep while traveling. Someone was
looking out for us and his family.
Joe Standley is a flight school owner and
27-year pilot from Lake in the Hills, Illinois.

LEFT: ALEX WILLIAMSON; ABOVE: STEVE KARP

his Piper Dakota to do some hood work. The winds
were strong and gusty, and it was turbulent. Every now
and then a strong gust of wind would push exhaust
fumes into the airplane. A carbon monoxide detector
was on the instrument panel in plain view.
On the way to the practice area I noticed a breeze
in the airplane that I hadn't noticed a few days earlier.
The door, baggage door, and the vents all were closed.
About 20 miles west of the airport we began drills,
including turns and varying aircraft configurations.
Students often get dizzy during this lesson, and turbulence tends to make it worse. Ken mentioned that he
was a little dizzy and asked if he could take a break.
Part of me wondered if it might be carbon monoxide, even though the detector indicated everything was
good. I opened the window and the overhead vent and
said we should head back. I felt a little dizzy, too.
On the way back to the airport, I asked Ken if he
was OK to land. He said he was still feeling off and
was struggling to find the runway. The carbon monoxide detector, which was new, showed no change.
I landed the airplane, and as I taxied off the
runway, I felt more dizziness. I told Ken I thought
we may have carbon monoxide poisoning. Ken taxied
back to his hangar, where we shut down. He stumbled
getting off the wing. He started to take the tow bar out
and I told him to stay put and take deep breaths.

CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR
dark spot DANGER

Flight Training - June 2020

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