Toxins found in pilots' blood include oil fumes, residue from burned polyalphaolefin (PAO) anti-freeze, and, in one case, propane. Carbon monoxide, which leaves the blood quickly, is also suspected.
"There is a lot of nasty stuff getting pumped into the pilots' bloodstream through what they're breathing from that OBOGS [On-Board Oxygen Generation System]. That's fact," one former F-22 pilot said. "How bad it is, what type it is, exactly how much of it, how long - all these things have not been answered."
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5 comments:
Interesting findings on the strange stuff the Raptor pilots are breathing.
This is all a mystery since the OBOGS systems is based on a well developed technology that's been around for quite awhile.
Outside air is pressurized and forced through a molecular Zeolite sieves which separates O2 and nitrogen. Nitrogen is purged and the rest is very good O2 which can be anywhere between 90% - 95% pure depending on the number of sieves in the system. I've seen lab testing results for medical systems and they create very good O2 with no contaminates.
Honeywell updated this technology for the F-22 OBOGS by adding an organic polymer binder which improves nitrogen absorption which again has been well tested.
So getting back to the F-22, there is really only two possibilities. Either the system is ingesting the contamination from the outside aircraft or internally within the airframe.
Its very doubtful that the O2 generator is the culprit.
Some things in this article do not help me understand what is wrong, and make me suspicious. Just because post flight blood analysis shows some toxins, it does not mean it was not there pre-flight. Also, since the dose makes the poison, just detecting these things in tiny amounts does not explain anything. Was the measured level predictably toxic? Is there a control group of measurements on pilots without incident? Is there a control group of measuremments on pilots of other aircraft types? Finally, that comment about carbon monoxide is not right. It is inconsistent with my understanding that carbon monoxide has a stronger affinity to hemoglobin than oxygen, and is difficult to purge from blood as a result. It's leaks like this that explain the necessity for tight control of accident investigations.
I hope the important data points were repeatable. Contamination of the samples is possible depending how the critical evidence was gathered and handled. We learned that from Barry Scheck during the OJ trial. Now, if we had a carbon monoxide or PAO tainted glove to try on we could settle the matter. "If it doesn't fit, you must aquit"
Saw an article explaining this might be a Alaska problem, with such cold weather, most start ups are done inside the hangar and jet exhaust might be re ingested at a higher rate than elsewhere, explaining the high portion of toxins.
"These guys are getting tested for toxins and they've [gotten] toxins out of their bloodstreams," the source said. "One of the guys was expelling propane."
If you wanna hang out, You've gotta take her out, Propane
If you wanna get down, Down on the ground, Propane
She don't lie, She don't lie, She don't lie, Propane
If you got bad news, You wanna kick them blues, Propane
When your day is done, and you wanna run, Propane
She don't lie, She don't lie, She don't lie, Propane
If your thing is gone, And you wanna ride on, Propane
Don't forget this fact, You can't get it back, Propane
She don't lie, She don't lie, She don't lie, Propane
She don't lie, She don't lie, She don't lie, Propane
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