Navy knows causes of PEs

Following the results of a recently completed root-cause analysis, the Navy now knows what has been causing physiological events (PEs) in aviators, which spiked so bad in 2017 that flight instructors wouldn’t get into their aircraft to train new student pilots. The analysis pointed to a complex relationship between aircrew, flight gear and the aircraft. Rear Adm. Fredrick Luchtman, commander of the Naval Safety Center and the lead of the Physiological Episodes Action Team (PEAT), told reporters June 19 that two root-cause corrective action (RCCA) teams had completed their work in December and briefed naval aviation leaders in February on their findings related to the T-45 Goshawk training and F-18 family of fighters. The teams spent three years and $50M of work, produced 8,000+ pages of technical documentation, and proposed 567 recommendations for how to keep pilots/weapons officers safer in the cockpit. Ultimately, the teams found there was no simple fix. That’s the bad news, according to Luchtman, but early decisions have resulted in a 96-percent decrease in the PE rate in the T-45 fleet, and a 74-percent in the F-18 fleet since 2017. What was causing the PEs? (Source: USNI News 06/19/20) Mississippi Note: Pilots flying the T-45C aircraft at NAS Meridian were among those reporting PE-related symptoms.  https://news.usni.org/2020/06/18/navy-clear-on-causes-of-physiological-events-in-pilots-final-recommendations-released-for-pe-mitigation