Interesting Dangerous goods incident
 

Scary, just imagine if they had taken off...

I presume that the lessons learned from this incident have been promulgated world wide in some manner

I imagine the hissing sound must have been quite loud if they were able to hear it while on the takeoff run where you got the engines at full power.

Maybe the sound levels inside the Beech 1900 are not that high?

Good airmanship by the pilots to go back and not continue the flight when faced with a minor-like discrepancy.

DU

wow. amazing.

It must be a rumour - it certainly isn't news:

I have seen ( from the outside) a CO2 cylinder go off in the back of a small van,the valve failed and it just flew around like a 7kg missile, nearly ripped it apart, the dents were so massive it was a major repair bill, it could have easily gone through the hull of an aircraft

Yeah, just imagine a cylinder of compressed air, oxygen say, doing that inside a 747-400 whilst airborne...

Interesting that the crew did not use their O2 masks. Perhaps the intake of CO2 was too insidious to warn that they were losing consciousness. It would be, after all, a kind of anoxia and with no odour, nothing to warn them to put on O2. Very nasty.

The thing about CO2 poisoning is that it can get you even in the presence of otherwise-adequate oxygen. If there's too much CO2 in the lungs then the CO2 won't be released from the blood and the oxygen can't then take its place.

Paxboy

Did you miss a "not" ?

If they had used oxygen and the oxygen supply had been under positive pressure (i.e. no mixing with ambient) then the CO2 in the lungs should have had a chance to to be replaced.

llondel,

"The thing about CO2 poisoning is that it can get you even in the presence of otherwise-adequate oxygen. If there's too much CO2 in the lungs then the CO2 won't be released from the blood and the oxygen can't then take its place."

I stand to be corrected as it has been a few years since my last bio-chem lecture, but I seem to remember that it is CO (carbon monoxide) which has a higher affinity for red blood cells than O2, and not CO2.

Thus carbon monoxide poisoning is much more dangerous than carbon dioxide poisoning. (yes yes, both will kill you, but too much CO2 is easier to recover from as shown by these pilots in this situation and not by the poor fool who warms up his car in a closed garage on a cold morning)

TME

Very fortunate crew. As carbon dioxide is denser than air, when the FO fell, he was likely not getting any oxygen, and may have been minutes from death. Captain was probably better off since the window was open.

Be careful out there!

No, no; I'm happy with 'Unlimited' :):):ok:

Oooppsss. Yes, thanks for that SR, now corrected.

re: not news
 

The incident is not new; the report is (but I agree the trhead should be moved.


CO2 exposure is dangerous and potentially lethal, however recovery is rapid when the casualty is removed from the situation. With CO the oxygen carrying capacity is affected for a long period (improving only as red blood cells are naturally replaced)

Teachme:

CO2 at 5% is toxic, get much more than that and even if the rest is oxygen, you're not going to last long. 5% is comparable to the normal pressure of CO2 coming out of the blood, so more than that and you'll find it increasingly harder to breath because you won't be able to expel the CO2. At 3% the respiratory rate is double its normal rate and at 5% you're going to be going at four times normal.

Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) can go unnoticed until you pass out, but you'll definitely be aware of increasing CO2 because it's very uncomfortable.

"This is one more reason why pilot's job deserves unlimited respect, whether freight or pax, over any part of the world"

Wow. Unlimited eh. Just think what Paediatric doctors, Neurosurgeons, Firemen, Police and front line troops deserve.

To hell with reality checks and perspective that's what I say!!!!!

Anybody who goes flying with nine CO2 cylinders unsecured "but chocked" on the cargo floor deserves what he gets.....