- The recent Pager attack in West Asia raises a question mark on passenger flight safety.
- A series of small explosions could damage the pressure bulkhead and the resultant decompression would require oxygen masks to be deployed for use by passengers.
- When there is a cabin fire and there is also oxygen, the result is a catastrophe and a catch-22 situation.
- The use of oxygen may lead to fire and in the absence of oxygen, there is a risk of becoming brain dead.
- There is only a small window of time for one to become brain-dead if you do not get your oxygen mask on immediately.
- As altitude increases above 10,000 feet, the symptoms of hypoxia increase in severity, and the time of useful consciousness rapidly decreases.
- In the case of explosive decompression, the TUC may be halved because of the effects of the sudden outflow of oxygen from the body’s tissues.
| Concept of TUC: The Time of Useful Consciousness (TUC) or Effective Performance Time is the period of elapsed time from the interruption of normal air supplyor exposure to an oxygen-poor environment until the time when the ability to function usefully is likely to be lost at which point an affected individual would no longer be capable of taking normal corrective or protective action. Time of useful consciousness (TUC) is not the time to total unconsciousness. The term “time of useful consciousness” describes the maximum time the pilot has to make rational, life-saving decisions and carry them out at a given altitude without supplemental oxygen. |
Dig Deeper: Read about the condition of Hypoxia and symptoms of it.
