A Hornet Weapon Systems Officer’s View of the Navy’s Suffocating Jet Crew

[rebewranger]

A Hornet Weapon Systems Officer’s View of the Navy’s Suffocating Jet Crews

The problem appears to be getting worse, and some fed up pilots are boycotting their flight schedules.
BY
JOE “SMOKIN” RUZICKA
JUL 3, 2020 4:17 AM

A Hornet Weapon Systems Officer’s View of the Navy’s Suffocating Jet Crews
 
Being hypoxic in a military fighter jet is no joke. Back in 2010, my pilot and I were returning from a training mission in the southern California desert when we noticed the cabin pressure gauge in our F/A-18D Hornet had spiked to nearly 20,000 feet. This was essentially our current altitude—and not a good place to be if you do not have supplemental oxygen. To complicate matters, I was not wearing my oxygen mask on our transit back from the training area. Normal cabin pressurization hovers around 8,000 feet, so my habit (like many others) was to not wear supplemental oxygen when in a purely administrative flying mode. Big mistake.

I noticed pretty quickly that I could not say or remember my flight's callsign. I fumbled with connecting my mask for what seemed to be eternity. In reality, it was probably only about 10 seconds but my hand dexterity had diminished. The lack of oxygen to my brain turned a simple task into a very difficult one. Once I was able to properly secure my mask and receive a good flow of air, using supplemental oxygen from the jet did not immediately remedy my affects. I still felt sluggish and slow. Thankfully, my pilot had his oxygen mask on the entire time and said he felt fine.


https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/8997/a-hornet-weapon-systems-officers-view-of-the-navys-suffocating-jet-crews
 

[Kamaji]

I tell this story to let folks know the recent issues with F/A-18 Hornet cabin pressure and oxygen incidents are nothing new. More importantly, I am scared for my fellow F/A-18 Hornet and T-45 aviators and I know something must be done to correct this situation.

Naval Aviators are climbing into a machine that may kill them—and it’s not from what you may think, say, a surface to air missile or an enemy fighter. Because of a recurring problem with the oxygen and cabin pressurization systems—more commonly known as OBOGS, which stands for On-board Oxygen Generating System—in the Navy’s F/A-18 fighters and T-45 trainer jets, an alarming increase in episodes of hypoxia for aircrew have occurred. Hypoxia is a deficiency in the amount of oxygen to the body which can lead to fatal consequences. This problem has become so serious and frequent, T-45 flight instructors boycotted training flights last week.