Search Results

Oxygen has been a significant variable in flight operations for nearly 60 years. Today, the use of oxygen is almost synonymous with rocket, jet and turbo-prop operations affecting more than 45,000 aircraft worldwide. Today’s pilot flies farther, higher and longer than ever before, and does so at an ever increasing frequency. While the past 60 years have yielded tremendous advances in propulsion, avionics, materials and many other areas, oxygen and its role in aviation has remained largely stagnant. Although considered a major aircraft system and an essential component in high altitude operations, the orthodox mantra of ‘engineering it better’ has produced only limited results, most of them in the area of dispensation equipment (masks). In recent years Aeronautical Data Systems and collaborative entities have begun working to create a standardized and comprehensive aviation oxygen safety management system.