NAVY INVESTIGATING PILOTS' HEALTH ISSUES: The Navy is investigating a rise in health issues among pilots of its fleet of F/A-18 and EA-18G fighter jets, the chairman of a House Armed Services Committee subpanel said Thursday.
"We've been informed that the Navy has organized a Physiological Episode Team, to investigate and determine the causes of these physiological episodes in aviators," Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, said at a hearing Thursday. "As symptoms related to depressurization, tissue hypoxia and contaminant intoxication overlap, discerning a root cause is a complex process."
The Navy started noticing a rise in physiological episodes among pilots in 2009, Turner said.
In 2006, the rate of episodes per 100,000 flight hours on the F/A-18 was 3.66, according to written testimony from Navy and Marines leaders.
By the period from Nov. 1, 2014, to Oct. 31, 2015, the rate was 28.23, according to the testimony.
For the EA-18G, the rate was 5.52 from Nov. 1, 2010, to Oct. 31, 2011. From Nov. 1, 2014, to Oct. 31, 2015, it was 43.57.
As an aside, during Super Hornet test and OPEVAL additional hearing protection needs were raised as an issue.
Australia also uses the Super Hornet and soon the Growler. Unknown what Defence knows about this issue other than the usual product alerts, FMS notification system.
The Super Hornet was never prototyped. It was sold to Congress as "an upgrade" Hornet when it was no such thing in regard to aircraft design. Congress bought the subterfuge from big Navy.
Via Inside Defense (subscription):
February 04, 2016
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Lee Hudson
Since 2009, the Navy has noticed an increase in hazard reports due to physiological episodes in the Super Hornet and Growler aircraft and established a Physiological Episode Team to determine the root cause, the Navy revealed this week.
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H/T- MW
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