SAFA Skysailor Magazine

19 March | April 2021 SKY SAILOR He had then gone on glide and gained another 27m (12424ft) asl, before accelerating to 67km/h. At this point the incident occured. A rapid descent is seen with a maximum rate of -24m/s attained. So, we have a number of striking similarities: both pilots are flying Ozone Zeno wings; both pilots are flying at altitudes in excess of 10000ft and where the ambient temperature would have been quite cold; neither are fit, young men; both have been in the air for an extended period and both were very experienced pilots, mentally pushing for a specific outcome – a long distance. Let’s cover these points individually and then regroup for the bigger picture. The wing Ozone’s Zeno is a performance or competition two-line EN-D wing. It is not a wing for beginners. Both pilots were very experienced and quite capable of flying these wings, but, when things go wrong, they can go wrong very quickly with a short period of time even for a well dialled-in pilot under optimal conditions to make the corrections required. The evidence available from both tracklogs indicates that both wings very quickly went into tight spirals with high descent rates. Pilots of these wings should be undertaking SIV training on a regular basis to reinforce the muscle memory and techniques required to correct undesirable aircraft states. Altitude and hypoxia In the September/October 2019 issue of SkySailor, I took a look at hypoxia and some of its contributing factors. Both these pilots were flying well within the zone where you would expect a pilot to be hypoxic. Although Kiwi was flying with a supplemental oxygen system, we do not know if the system was delivering at the time of his incident. Pierre was not carrying oxygen. Hypoxia contributing factors • • Neither pilot was young and their level of fitness relative to someone 20 to 30 years younger would have been inferior. • • Both had been flying for some time and would likely have been experiencing some fatigue. And although both were carrying water, we do not know what their level of hydration was. • • Both would have been experiencing cold conditions at those altitudes. Pierre was a smoker; we do not know about Kiwi. The effect on a smoker is an instant 5000ft reduction in the altitude that hypoxia would be expected to onset. The push for long distance With that mindset, it is possible that the warning signs would not have been noticed. It may also have led them to seek those higher altitudes, to grab every climb, to get that bit extra range on the next glide. We’ll never know. If you add all of these things together, we get a picture of two pilots flying on the knife-edge, with very little margin of error to deal with the unexpected. Dr Matt Wilkes is a UK physician who you may have heard on Gavin McClurg’s Cloudbase Mayhem podcast and seen in Andre Bandarra’s Youtube channel. He is a paraglider pilot who is researching the effects of altitude on pilot physiology. I asked him about the combination of all of these factors and what the effect would have been on a pilot if they experienced a high-G situation, such as that resulting from a high rotation dive. Would they be more susceptible to losing consciousness? Here’s Dr. Matt’s reply: “In answer to your query, G tolerance is lowered by hypoxia, dehydration, hunger, lack of physical fitness, increasing age, smoking and time away from flying. Also, time spent flying at 4000m is probably not very acclimatising. You need some exercise stimulus, and paragliding doesn't provide that. A very good example of this in action is the latest film from Antoine Girard, in which he and Damien try to climb Spantik. Despite their attaining some very high altitudes in the weeks before, they were insufficiently acclimatised for their mountain climb. So, an unexpectedly low G tolerance is plausible.” None of us are getting any younger. The average age of SAFA members is 52. We all need to be constantly assessing the circumstances under which we fly, both generally before launch, and more particularly during a flight. • • Are we starting off with a reduced safety margin due to our age, level of fitness, lifestyle, and the demands our gear place on us when we fly or get into trouble? • • As the flight progresses, are we further reducing that margin by flying at a potentially dangerous altitude without oxygen? • • Are we hydrated, cold, short on food? • • Are we well into a long flight and feeling a bit exhausted? • • If anything goes wrong, will we be able to deal with it or will we become incapacitated? These are all serious questions we need to keep asking ourselves. And we need to be honest. When we do our membership renewal there is a health declaration embedded in the process. This is when we electronically sign as part of our continued membership that we are fit enough to fly. That declaration needs to be taken seriously and answered honestly. We do not want to see more AIRS reports where pilot fitness is indicated as a causal factor. Fly safe.