Oxygen almost oops

[Bill Greenwood]

We don't have a title just for safety on the forum, ( wish we did) so I will post it here.

I was flying east going to cross the Continental Divide at Corona Pass west of Boulder. I was about 11,500 under the clouds and getting bumpy so past Eagle I decided to try to go on top of a broken layer. I put on oxygen, climbed up and still was not on top at 15,500 so I went back under clouds.
As I neared the ridge top that I know to be 12,000 I could see it was obscured, no room to get through under the clouds. So I went back into climb and was ready to go to 17,500 if needed even though I would be coming right back down to 6,000 on the other side.
I had a small headache and had a lot on my mind that morning. Weather was fine, and lots of fuel if I needed to turn back, but it was annoying to have to try to get through it in front of me. I had a weather briefing, but it wasn't as through as it could have been, I didn't have any pireps of the tops in front of me.

So as I climbed through 15,000 I thought I had better adjust my O2 flow for how high I was going. When I picked up the adjustable flow regulator, THERE WAS NO FLOW, it showed ZERO. Here I was, headed up to 17,000 and I was getting NO oxygen. I looked at the supply gauge, and had plenty. Then I looked down and found the O2 line had popped off the fitting. How long ago had this happened? No wonder I had a bit of a headache. I put the line back on, finally topped the clouds at 17,200 and found good vmc to descend into Boulder, and my headache was gone.

What if I had gotten in a hurry, if I had not remembered to increase the O2 as I went higher? I could well have passed out up there and that would have been the end.

The motto, think about what you are doing, and try to focus on the fundamentals even in good weather. Try to leave the distractions behind, and learn from an experience.

[1600vw]

Bill let me be the first to say I am glad you are ok. You would be missed if something happened to you. As would most members but you do contribute a lot to this forum. Having lived in the area or Summit County I can only imagine what you encountered. I never flown over the area but know it well.

Thanks for sharing. Its things like this that everyone can learn something from.

Again glad you are ok.

Tony Sweet

[wyoranch]

+1... Glad you are ok, very scary.

[rwanttaja]

Well handled, Bill.

One of the insidious thing about hypoxia is that the condition masks itself from the sufferer; *having* the condition makes the victim less likely to detect it. Sounds like you've got the right instincts.

Ron Wanttaja

[wyoranch]

I often wondered why someone has not adapted those portable O2 sensors the doctors use for aviation. It seems to me that it could be done. A sort of check on your bodies Oxygen level. This unfortunately is not a rare occurrence.
Rick

[Mayhemxpc]

Great "there I was" story…especially since your hypoxia symptoms are not the same as that commonly preached in safety seminars. (I also get a headache as a hypoxia symptom.)

I agree that a safety category on this forum would be useful.

[Marc Zeitlin]

I often wondered why someone has not adapted those portable O2 sensors the doctors use for aviation. It seems to me that it could be done. A sort of check on your bodies Oxygen level. This unfortunately is not a rare occurrence.
Rick

Ummm, see:

https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/sa...oximeters.html

These have been available for at least 10 years - at least that's about when I got mine. They've gotten a lot cheaper in the interim - there should be one in every plane that flies above 5K ft., IMO.

[Floatsflyer]

Bill, very happy you're still with us. Good get on the quickly discovered disconnection. From this day forward, you will always look at this when you decide to go on the O2.

[Bill Greenwood]

Floats, that line is just slip fit over the nozzle and it has popped off a few times before. I think I will have to tape over it or use some water to slip it all the way on up to the end and it would probably stay.

Thanks for the kind words guys.

[Bob Dingley]

Good work Bill. Glad to know you came through it OK and could share it with us. I agree that it would be a good idea to replace one of the under used forums with a pure safety forum.
A little off topic, but can't resist sharing the story of my running buddy, Gordy and his colostomy bag. At altitude. Gordy showed up for flying one day and was showing off his new "feature." He said that his AME cleared him for flight and so did everybody else concerned. I had to accept this because another pal flew for a couple of weeks with one installed six months before. No problem.
Gordy flew most of the week just like it wasn't there. One day, he walked in off the line visibly shaken. I asked "What happened?" He told the crowd the story.
He was staying low until he ran into some weather. He decided to climb over it. He worked his way up to 7 or 8 thou. The guy sitting next to him noticed movement under Gordy's clothes. and asked if he was carrying a pet rabbit or something. Gordy looked down and was shocked. The thing had expanded several times it original volume and looked to be near its limit. Gordy said that all he could do was to fall back on prayer until he could descend. His bag came through OK.
I am always surprised at what is medically legal to fly with here in the 21st century.