Spain's new hypoxia-coping system

PARIS – Spanish companies have unveiled a new system for simulating low-oxygen conditions that air force pilots may experience in flight. The technology, made by Indra, one of Spain’s technology companies, and iAltitude, another Spanish firm specializing in high-altitude sports training, is a proposal to cope with the symptoms of hypoxia, which can cause pilots to fall unconscious in mid-flight. Spanish air force pilots have a backup oxygen mask in case oxygen levels drop too low, but if that too fails, pilots have to be able to identify symptoms that precede hypoxia, which can cause loss of consciousness, according to Indra. This new system, which the company claims is “the first of its kind in the world,” consists of normobaric hypoxia equipment made by iAltitude of which Indra has integrated into simulators for the C101 Spanish Air Force training jet at the Madrid-based Aerospace Medicine Training Center. The system regulates oxygen through pilots’ masks, reducing it a little at a time, and recording data to be used by the center to design programs to alert pilots to pre-hypoxia symptoms. Training in hypoxia has mainly been performed in hypobaric and normobaric chambers, but cannot be undertaken simultaneously with flight tasks. The new system means hypoxia tests are now integrated with flight training, while the capabilities of pilots to complete procedures in low-oxygen conditions is continuously evaluated. (Source: Defense News 12/04/18) Gulf Coast Note: U.S. Air Force, Marine and Navy pilots have experienced hypoxia-like symptoms in flight in F-35, F/A-18 Hornets, and T-6 trainer aircraft flown at both NAS Meridian, Miss., and Pensacola, Fla.