Global Courant
Breadcrumb Trail links
PMN World PMN News
Author of the article:
The associated press
Denise Lavoie and Ben Finley
Published June 5, 2023 • read for 3 minutes
FILE – Police officers walk behind the tail of the crashed Cypriot Helios plane on a hillside in Grammatiko, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Athens, Greece, August 22, 2005. Some aviation experts cite pilot hypoxia as the leading theory for why a -responsive corporate jet flew over the nation’s capital on Sunday, June 4, 2023, causing the military to scramble fighter jets. Greek investigators said pilots of a Cypriot plane didn’t realize an automatic pressurization system was set to “manual” when a loss of cabin pressure and oxygen led to hypoxia and the plane’s crash in Greece in 2005, which killed all 121 people on board . Photo by Petros Giannakouris /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Article content
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A loss of oxygen is a leading theory as to why an unresponsive business jet flew over the nation’s capital on Sunday before crashing in rural Virginia. But federal investigators are just beginning to search for answers, and one expert warned against jumping to conclusions.
Advertisement 2
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Exclusive articles from Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post and 15 news sites with one account. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that can be viewed, shared, and commented on on any device. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times crossword. Support local journalism.
SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Exclusive articles from Conrad Black, Barbara Kay, Rex Murphy and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events Unlimited online access to National Post and 15 news sites with one account. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that can be viewed, shared, and commented on on any device. Daily puzzles, including the New York Times crossword. Support local journalism.
REGISTER FOR MORE ARTICLES
Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles every month. Receive email updates from your favorite authors.
Article content
The Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, bound for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport. Once over Long Island, it turned around and headed south, flying a straight path over Washington DC before crashing in Virginia, killing the pilot and three passengers.
Sunday’s crash wasn’t the first time a flight had landed far from its destination under mysterious circumstances.
——
WHAT IS HYPOXIA?:
Hypoxia is the condition that occurs when a person’s brain is not getting enough oxygen. If left untreated, it can be fatal.
In aviation, hypoxia can occur if a depressurized aircraft flies above 10,000 feet without supplemental oxygen or if there is rapid decompression during a flight, or a failure of the oxygen or pressurization systems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Article content
Ad 3
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Oxygen pressure decreases as altitude increases. It’s why airplanes are pressurized and why mountaineers carry supplemental oxygen on high-altitude climbs. It’s also why flight attendants teach passengers how to use oxygen masks in the unlikely event of cabin pressure loss on a commercial flight.
——
THE EFFECTS OF HYPOXIA
“It’s something that happens slowly. It’s almost like you get dizzy, and you just can’t, you can’t fit things together. And eventually you lose consciousness,” said Anthony Brickhouse, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, now an associate professor and director of the Aerospace Forensic Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Ad 4
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Brickhouse said planes are often set to fly on autopilot “so if the pilot becomes hypoxic or loses consciousness, that plane just goes flying on the route it’s programmed to fly,” he said.
Brickhouse said it’s unclear why the plane suddenly turned around in New York and headed south again. He said it was possible the pilot was disoriented and was “trying to reprogram a flight computer or something”.
“That’s definitely something researchers will be looking at,” Brickhouse said.
Brickhouse said it’s important not to jump to conclusions about what caused the sudden flight reversal and crash.
——
OTHER CRASHES WITH HYPOXIA:
– One of the most famous hypoxic crashes was the 1999 crash of a Learjet that lost cabin pressure and flew on autopilot mid-country before running out of gas and crashing into a South Dakota meadow, killing professional golfer Payne Stewart and five others.
Ad 5
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
– One of the many theories about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 passengers and crew in 2014 was a slow or sudden decompression, which led to a loss of oxygen and could have killed everyone on board. If oxygen levels dropped, a loud, automated warning would have alerted pilots to put on their oxygen masks and immediately descend below 10,000 feet, where there is enough oxygen to breathe unassisted. But according to aviation experts, the plane should have continued to fly automatically towards Beijing in that case and should have been visible on the radar.
Greek investigators said pilots of a Cypriot airliner failed to realize an automatic pressurization system was set to “manual” when a loss of cabin pressure and oxygen led to hypoxia and the plane crashed in Greece in 2005, killing all 121 people on board. came to life.
– In January 2018, Dr. Bill Kinsinger of Edmond, Oklahoma, drove his Cirrus SR22T to Georgetown, Texas, to pick up a disabled dog destined for foster care in Oklahoma. But he never landed at the suburban Austin airport, blasting hundreds of miles past his destination. Authorities believe he may have lost consciousness due to hypoxia.
——–
Finley contributed from Norfolk, Virginia.
Share this article on your social network
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a vibrant yet civilized forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their thoughts on our articles. It can take up to an hour for comments to appear on the site. We ask that you keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve enabled email notifications: you will now receive an email when you receive a reply to your comment, when there’s an update to a comment thread you follow, or when a user you follow makes a comment. For more information and details on customizing your email settings, visit our Community Guidelines.
