Sydney Seaplanes de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver VH-NOO crash report update

[Flightrite]

I think Nev has the right idea. Audible alarm and a flashing light. Shouldn't be too hard for an electronics whiz to build one, should it?

 

My machine is fitted with an audible alarm and red light warning C0 detector, best thing ever!? Also I keep in the cockpit an O2 concentration and pulse rate finger monitor. I use it on longer flights. Surprised at how one's O2 drops at 10K ft.

[facthunter]

Senior citizens may also be breathing too shallow especially at altitudes to properly oxygenate the blood. You get more "combined" CO effect then I would imagine. If you have someone else with you it's less of an issue. THEY might pickup any change, before you would.. Nev

[Marty_d]

Ah, good idea Nev.

 

Always fly with a senior citizen so they can be the canary in the coalmine!

[Flightrite]

I highly recommend getting one like this, $25 bucks.

[circuitsun]

yeah I had one of those card detectors, bloody thing went black, so I threw it away. won't get another one of those !

[facthunter]

You are meant to use the fire extinguisher before that happens. Nev

[laserfly]

hikers have died inside tents from CO poisoning due to cooking

[Student Pilot]

The usual cause is a faulty cabin heater where the exhaust is used for the heat source. How long had it been flying since the last landing? Nev

Beavers in Oz usually don't have heaters, just straight out pipe.

[Thruster88]

The final report is out.

 

The pilot who flew the aircraft all day had a blood CO of 11%, passengers who flew 15 mins then had lunch and then 5-10 minutes before the crash had 10% and 9%, others lower or none ???

 

Smokers can have a blood CO of 9% ???

 

The "experiment " on the exemplar aircraft could IMHO have been done a lot better and actually replicated the crack in the exhaust. 

 

The ATSB has done a good job to highlight the danger of CO in aircraft but I think the report is a bit flawed.

 

The exhaust is used to provide cabin heat on most piston aircraft which can lead to CO entering the cabin, this is not the case with Beavers in warm climates. 

 

 https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2017/aair/ao-2017-118/

[kgwilson]

Carbon monoxide levels of 200ppm will usually cause headaches, tiredness, dizzyness after 2-3 hours exposure at this level. The maximum they found in testing was 144ppm.

 

A 2 pack a day heavy smokers levels are about 8% to 9%, average smokers are from 2.1% to 4.2%. If an individuals levels are higher that may mean CO intoxication or poisoning. The pilot was therefore at the low end of the intoxication/poisoning level and probably due to continued exposure over a period of time.

 

This is a good reason to get an electronic CO monitor that is on all the time. The overpriced aviation  CO monitors are overly sensitive when they start alarming at 8 or 9ppm when 50 ppm is OK in a working environment for 8 hours. All this will do is unnecessarily freak the pilot out.

 

Mine only starts to display the PPM at 30 and alarms at 50ppm after an hour, after 10 minutes at 100ppm and within 3 minutes at 300ppm