Use of Oxygen Masks
 

Just wanted to get an idea on other airlines' SOPs for this. Our lot are going to bring in a requirement for one pilot to wear his oxy mask if the other pilot leaves the cockpit and above FL370. We have modern quick donning masks in all our aircraft and I always thought it was better not to muck around with them at all otherwise they might stop working when you need them.

Apparently this is a requirement under the new UK CARs. Any thoughts? Does anyone else do this?

Well for starters, operating under the FAA rules, has been a requirement for years....

411A is correct. But there is a simple solution that seems obvious. Never fly above 350

MG

i never saw anyone of our company do that, but i knew there is such a requirment. i don`t think that is practical .

I know it was a requirement in the past but I thought most operators stopped it with the invention of the true quick donning masks. If you take these masks out of the stowage they are hard to restow and often leak - this is my concern.

kimoki has a fair point - who is going to disinfect and stow these masks at the end of each sector?

oxygen masks
 

Jet II and Kimoki,
How long do you think you will remain conscious at FL370,if you have an explosive decomp,whilst trying to initiate a rapid descent under control,whilst you fumble about with an oxygen mask that may leak,or you haven`t bothered to check and sanitise. You are paid big bucks to be "Professional"; if you`ve never done a decomp run in a chamber ,I suggest you get your company to invest in some training:mad:

Which airline do you work for?-just so I can avoid..

Never mind decomp, 'tis smoke that gets your immediate attention.
Have had very dense smoke only one time (lost sight of the F/O in about five seconds)....masks and goggles saved the day.
Ain't nice at all.:eek:

oxygen masks
 

Kimoki/JetII,
Sorry for sounding off a little,so I`ll backtrack.

Time of useful consciousness at FL300 is--30 secs
at FL350 is--20 secs
at FL400 is--15 secs
Now,you may be young and exuberant,and may be able to stretch those times a bit,but not a lot!
So,think about what will happen if you are alone on the flight-deck,and a w/s cracks,a cargo door/emergy. exit pops/smoke/fumes in the cockpit? If it`s a rapid decomp the a/c will probably fog out,it will be spaghetti junction in the cabin,SLF will be panicking,and your other crew-member may not be able to get back onto oxygen, or get to the flight-deck.
This may be painting a bleak picture ,depending whether you are flying SLF or just freight;with minimum crew on a freighter it could be said that the situation could be worse if the other crew is down aft- if so I would suggest that he should have a walk-around oxygen bottle and mask anyway!!
Once it has happened to you on a dark night,you will not forget---guaranteed!
You should sanitise your mask b4 and after flight anyway,when you check that it is working and stowed correctly.If you suspect it is leaking then you dont fly!!

I hope you will always be ready,but never have to put it to the test;)
Sycamore

sycamore

No offense taken, but I, and I think kimoki, was talking about the quick access inflatable masks that are fitted to most of the new large jets 777's 767's etc. (not the old plastic things that hang over the back of the seat, as fitted to some of the old DC10's)

These are difficult to restow correctly (if you get it wrong the O2 leaks)

At the moment it is not SOP to use them as a precaution, if you start to use them on a regular basis then they will need to be correctly disinfected and restowed correctly at the end of each sector.

Thanks Jet II, that is exactly the point I am trying to make.