The NTSB concluded the Stewart crash was caused by “incapacitation of the flight crew members as a result of their failure to receive supplemental oxygen following a loss of cabin pressurization.”Īircraft pressurization was also attributed as the cause of a Boeing 737 crash in 2005 that killed all 121 people on board. (At high altitudes, temperatures are frigid.) Fighter jets sent to intercept the aircraft reported a dark cockpit and condensation or ice on the inside of the windshield. That business jet lost communication with air traffic controllers while climbing toward 39,000 feet. Pressurization problems and hypoxia have caused past aircraft crashes, including the one that killed golfer Payne Stewart and others in 1999. “But I just don’t think they’re going to be able to get it.” “They would look for some critical parts to the pressurization system, valves,” Goelz said. Pilot of unresponsive private jet that crashed and killed 4 was seen slumped over, source saysĭetermining the cause will be difficult for investigators because the high impact of the crash destroyed the plane. “It is a mystery at the get go, but I think there are some indications that this may be an issue with pressurization within the cabin,” said Peter Goelz, a CNN aviation analyst who led investigations as managing director at the National Transportation Safety Board. Autopilot settings, they say, would explain why the plane continued flying at that altitude until it ran out of fuel. The possibilities, experts say, include that the aircraft either never properly pressurized or lost pressure while cruising at about 34,000 feet. ![]() Responders found no survivors.īut investigators are looking at hypoxia, or the lack of oxygen in the body, as a possible cause of the crash, according to a source. The plane carrying a veteran pilot and three passengers left a Tennessee airport and flew towards its intended destination in New York before turning south and eventually crashing into a rural Virginia forest. Investigators have not said why they believe the pilot of the Cessna Citation business jet was found unresponsive and slumped over when fighter jets intercepted the aircraft near the nation’s capital on Sunday. “You have seconds,” said Les Abend, a retired airliner captain and aviation expert. But failure to immediately recognize and respond can be catastrophic. More dense air is pumped into the cabin so that passengers are breathing as if, for example, they were at 8,000 feet above sea level rather than 40,000.Īt the highest altitudes, the effects – including numbness, confusion, euphoria and a loss of consciousness – can take only seconds to set in. As investigators try to determine why a pilot and passengers fell unresponsive on a small jet that ultimately crashed in Virginia on Sunday, the tragedy evokes a critical consideration for pilots when flying: oxygen.īecause air is too thin to breathe at jetliner cruising altitudes, airplane cabins are pressurized.
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