What actually happens when fighter pilots take off their masks?
Hasard Lee | January 11, 2022
What happens if a fighter pilot takes off their mask? Movies like Independence Day and Top Gun portray it as a final act of desperation that’s strictly against regulation. But is this true? Before we get to the answer, let’s first look at the purpose of the mask.
A fighter pilot’s mask is primarily used to prevent the pilot from getting hypoxic, which is the lack of oxygen to the brain. As part of our training, we’ll go into an altitude chamber where the atmosphere is reduced to one-third of what it is at sea level. The purpose of the training is to recognize our symptoms so that we can take emergency action should we experience it while flying.
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For most people, their symptoms start off as tingling in their fingers, followed by light-headedness and mild euphoria. Left unchecked, this can quickly lead to confusion and eventually to losing consciousness, which can be catastrophic in a single seat aircraft. Modern masks also have several additional features to aid the pilot.
Nearly all masks have a microphone built into them. By pushing a button, usually on the throttle, the pilot can communicate across one of the several radios onboard the aircraft.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/what-actually-happens-when-fighter-pilots-take-off-their-masks/
