Originally Posted by
Stitchbitch
Perhaps RAFCAM might ask the Saudis for some evidence, after all they have been flying in full sets using U.K. oxygen masks since Lightening days. Not sure how Typhoons ADOM masks sit with a beard but P&Q masks seem to work fine.
Trouble is, ‘xx thousand hours of incident-free aviation with beards’ is not the type of evidence which counts for anything in matters of safety. Who knows how many near-misses went unreported or even unrecognised? And let’s not even ask about the reporting culture...
Sitting beard-wearing test subjects in a particulate-filled tent while feeding them 100% O2 through a standard regulator and mask and sending the exhaled air through particulate sensors (think respirator testing...) would be a scientific approach. Different conditions of head and jaw movement, mask toggle setting and beard length would need to be tested. I’m not aware of what RAFCAM is doing, by the way, just setting out what seems a cheap and easy experimental approach.
I very much suspect that the overpressure inherent to the 100% setting would render it totally safe, as everyone instinctively seems to know. It doesn’t seem like something that will take long to examine scientifically. But until that’s been done I can understand the unwillingness of Duty Holders to go against a HSE “will not”.