Pilot Declares Emergency Because Of Extreme Hypoxia

[Reno50524]

actually i think Killata is drunk.

[Reno50524]

I dont think 7700 would help Scud

[miguelsaez340]

any part of the aircraft or the crew i believe he says

this is stoning :O great video!

[icemachine79]

Search for "Kalitta 66" and the first link is the NTSB report. Basically what happened is the plane took off with a faulty emergency door. Obviously it couldn't stay pressurized but the captain decided to continue the flight anyway so the crew donned their oxygen masks. Once it reached altitude hypoxia set in for the captain (but not the FO or FE) and he wouldn't relinquish the controls. Eventually the co-pilot was able to take over and landed the plane in Cincinnati.

[LUpilot2012]

So the second pilot was the co pilot? He seemed coherent why didn't he just take over if the captain was suffering from Hypoxia that bad?

[inodesnet]

@LUpilot2012 ..It is my opinion that the only way to get the airplane to a lower altitude would be to override the captain by use of physical force. When the captain requested higher altitudes, the first officer and I strongly protested, both verbally and by hand signals. These protests were repeated at least three times during the climb...All protests were disregarded by the captain....

[ScudRunnR]

How do you declare an emergency with your flight controls??

[mceyran]

@ScudRunnR Squawk (= set your transponder code to) 7700

[foxdmulder]

@ScudRunnR the old way of doing it was to roll the wings from left to right at 5 degree bank and turn on and off wing lights

[flemmong]

Damn its a good thing that this lame ATC-operator is not flying any plane. Before he could make up his mind or respond he would either have hit the ground or beeing out of fuel!

[ScudRunnR]

What Altitude was he at?

[SlamDuncDrummer]

@ScudRunnR - FL330 = 33,000 feet.

[Fullagas]

Connie on a typical flight?

[archer49d]

@yourcup0322 Autopilot is an amazing thing, doesn't even need oxygen (contrary to the movie Airplane).

[ScudRunnR]

So, is the "Second Pilot" a different aircraft, or the co-pilot of Kalitta 66??

[archer49d]

@ScudRunnR Seems like the descriptor is used twice, the first time it seems like another aircraft, second time its the co-pilot.

[HittokiriBatosai]

@ScudRunnR He's totally coherent, so I'd think it's another aircraft. Would be pretty selfish of him to hog the oxygen for himself and not share with the pilot right next to him. And he didn't seem to be in any distress when the hypoxic pilot claimed he couldn't control altitude, airspeed OR heading... pretty sure it's the pilot of another aircraft.

[SlamDuncDrummer]

@ScudRunnR = different.

[Thiflankero]

Marijuana Airlines hehehe

[thegamer1504]

drunk pilot?

[Triplewave4]

@thegamer1504 Hypoxia! same effect as being drunk except that the having the hangover right now, lol

[CMDRSweeper]

@thegamer1504 Close to it, hypoxia or lack of O2 gives you drunk like behaviour.

You can even see trends of this in Top Gear as they try to scale a really tall mountain with their cars.

And a 737 from Helios did crash because of Hypoxia because the pilots got knocked out.

[lstorm2003]

Once the controllers suspected hypoxia why didn't they instruct the pilot to put on his oxygen mask? I would've said Kalitta 66, if able, descend and maintain one five thousand, and put on your oxygen mask!

[lstorm2003]

I played this video for a controller friend of mine and asked him what he thought the problem was and he responded "he's drunk". I also asked another friend whos in school to be a controller and he'd never heard this video before either. This video Should be required viewing for any Air Traffic Controller. Its a great teaching tool..

[CommissarASSHOLE]

This underscores only the seriousness of the harm which hypoxia can bring forth. As some one who has experienced it on the ground (in a safe chamber, that is), I can tell you that even when one realizes that is is truly happening, the hands feel like a deadweight as they are brought up to pull a mask down.

Think of how you feel when you are about to fall asleep after a tiresome day, and you can't move for the life of you as your eyes shut. Times that by 10, that is how hypoxia feels.

[Bottlelot]

Amazing everyone made it out alright. Scary stuff.

[cstrosser]

Incredible! Great work by pilot and ATC in getting the plane to safety.

[dcbuhrman]

They must of had the fish.

[MrCriticOfAll]

@dcbuhrman lol yes i remember now i had lasagne.

[BrendanKearnsMusic]

@MrCriticOfAll Surely you can't be serious!

[MrCriticOfAll]

@BrendanKearnsMusic I am and stop calling me surley!!!!!!!!

[MrPrankStyle]

Unable to control altitude. Unable to control airspeed. Unable to control heading.

Other than that, everything A-OK!

Thank god that was the only thing wrong!

[titolevis]

@MrPrankStyle HAhahaha right!

[Lisztman88]

Sounds like a scary condition that I would never want to have to go through.

[frauspi]

@Lisztman88 It's actually quite pleasant, I've been hypoxic before. It is totally painless and one of the main symptoms is euphoria. One of the best ways to go, if I had to choose.

[Lisztman88]

@frauspi Haha, awesome!

[1ginner1]

Oh shit , did i just post that , i must have been suffering form hypoxia

[sf200425997]

@1ginner1 must have been some bad food poisoning.....

[1ginner1]

Jst as a daft question , why wa the pilot suffering from Hypoxia in the first place?

[kowallaonskis07]

@TheBoeingPilot the symptoms of hypoxia include impaired mental processes, resulting to a condition very similar to alcohol. So simply put, he was talking as fast as his brain could think

[TheBoeing737Pilot]

why is he talking so slow?

[Letsgodevils44]

Wats ypsilanti ?

[malamagr]

@Letsgodevils44 Ypsi is a town in southeast Michigan, near Ann Arbor west of Detroit. Nowhere near Cinci, good thing the other pilot corrected the controller.

Why did they tell him flight level 260 when it seemed like he had hypoxia? How did he end up at 11000, on his own?

Pilot seemed thinking and hearing fine but having trouble controlling his muscles. Think if he'd been drunk he'd have had more difficulty understanding instructions...

[djayatosu]

WOW!!



[reluctable]

Man, watch some of the videos of people experiencing hypoxia in a training environment if you want to get a sense of how hard this pilot was having to work. There are clips of people in similar simulated conditions who can't even move their limbs properly, let alone maintain enough control over an aircraft to make an emergency descent to a safe altitude.

[Arrows2100]

@Krazfm

The ATC weren't aware of the problem. In review it is easy enough to guess what happening, and it's obvious on first listen since the title of the YouTube film is hypoxia.

But don't be so critical when the controller is thrown into a non standard scenario whilst still dealing with the separation of other aircraft. It isn't as straight forward as it seems when you're at the receiving end of the RT

[signmanbob2]

A world of respect for both the pilots and ATC on the handling of this emergency. This is why I have so much admiration for line pilots. They stare death in the face with great training and utter control.

[ibrahimhcaglayan]

His A-OK sounds like "Other than that, how was the play Mrs Lincoln?"... I think the pilot also deserved an award. As for the ATC, someone who took his job lightly could have dismissed the pilot as drunk and caused a disaster.

[HeavenlyGaze]

Thank goodness everyone was okay. Well done to keeping calm in the few of adversity!! Hats off to you guys :)

[GravityKaguya]

I am glad everyone is okay. Hats off to the Pilot and the ATC .

[mistert51]

Damn, that could have turned out very bad! Great work by both the pilot and ATC!

[krazfm]

While a commend ATC for working through the problem, they should have cleared that flight for an emergency decent instead of wasting time on a destination. With limited O2, there was very limited brain power. Throttle back and decend was the only instruction needed. ATC was fortunate they didn't loose the pilot as he passed out to O2 starvation. Lucky this pilot was able to get it down before it came down uncontrolled.

[BabexiGenieaa206]

lÕl_Î_fÈÈl_sO_lönÉly_tõÐÂý

[12Jetdiver55]

I remember when this happened. They tried to ferry the aircraft unpressurized with just the O2 masks. Non-pressurized Oxygen. The captian ended up with brain damage. The O2 maks are to meet the requirement to make 14,000 in 4 minutes. High dive only.

[GigsVT]

@12Jetdiver55 That's not the same incident as this one.

[2ndAsstJizzMopper]

pilot's talking like a drunk all that time and the controller does dick. that's some great SA. bleh.

[350tranZam]

shouldn't the second pilot have taken over since he sounds ok to operate.

[dwmascho]

@350tranZam The 2nd pilot was in a different plane. The Co-pilot had already passed out.

[350tranZam]

@dwmascho oh. i guess i didnt see that part where it said "second pilot in different plane"

[dwmascho]

@350tranZam Yeah I missed it too first time watching. At 0:15 it refers to the "second pilot" as being in a different plane, but at 3:50 the "second pilot" is the co-pilot. Apparently once they decended to 11,000 the co-pilot became coherent.

[wAtomAstroBoy]

lack of oxygen...

[luiskurt206]

WOW... fuc,,kn..g wow he's an amazing pilot ! .. him and Capt. Sully are a fu..ckn.. inspiration ... wow..

[forestskog]

hats off to the ATC and the pilot. Isn't it great when people rise to the challenge and make it work?

[weeiain1]

That was amazing. The pilot certainly tried his best under extreme conditions and he struggled through despite being handicapped by the effecta of hypoxia. He deserves praise indeed.

[josephiles]

What a god damn bloody hero! Having known people who had sufferd from hypoxia this guy should be given a fecking medal!

[cpark005]

who is the 2nd pilot??

[thelopespilot]

hes not drunk, mother of god

[shadowfax1903]

pilot manged to controll the plane and he actually managed to handle his hpoxia must be experienced and determined. (possibly he has air force background.)

[Weefles]

He thought the buzzer was an overspeed warning, although it was most likely the decompression warning. The co-pilot had already passed out, depending on the altitude he was lucky he didnt pass out either. He was above 26,000 feet for awhile, and usually at that altitude you have less than a minute of consciousness.

Could have been a disaster.

[Weefles]

He thought the buzzer was an overspeed warning, although it was most likely the decompression warning. The co-pilot had already passed out, depending on the altitude he was lucky he didnt pass out either.

Could have been a disaster.

[crazypk40]

What is Hypoxia?

[th3dig1tal0n3]

@crazypk40 He is out of oxygen, and probably bathing air saturated with CO2.

[crazypk40]

@th3dig1tal0n3 Ok! thanks!!!

[neper1982]

@crazypk40 LACK OF OXYGEN IN YOUR BRAIN. THATS WHY HE SPEAKS SO WEIRD IN HIS HEAD EVERYTHING IS SLOW AND DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. THIS PROBABBLY HAPPENED BECAUSE OF A CABIN DECOMPRESSION.

[crazypk40]

@neper1982 Thanks for the info!

[Nautical1994]

Sounds like pilot after dentist

[flyguyify]

There should not have been passengers on the plane anyway because Kalitta is a cargo operation.

[tailwheelflier]

don't drink and fly! LOL,,,,

[rocketav8r]

I was in ground school with both pilots in 2008. I have words....

[HelloHansSolo]

DRUNK PILOT!

[rocketav8r]

@HelloHansSolo

[RupDadFakeYell]

the controller should have noticed the hypoxiA!!!!!

[ismasamov55]

The controller should have recognized the symptoms and ordered immediate decent. Several minutes were wasted unnecessarily.

[praetorian2150]

imagine if the cabin mic was toggled on for that exchange. i would be scared shitless

[MissyMicole23]

Get out of fl260 would be the smart thing for the controller to do, Its called an emergency decent

[FrontPlayer01]

Perhaps the pilot is a swiss one - they are always quite slow...  ;-P

[praetorian2150]

so what happened here....oxygen went to shit or did this pilot just have the condition biologically?

[Mick10010]

@praetorian2150 Hypoxia, not a condition someone can have its basically just what happens when you are not getting enough oxygen. Most people don't even realise when its happening to them so it was a good move by the controller to tell the pilot what to do.

[praetorian2150]

@Mick10010, ok thx for the clarification.

[Andrew57110]

Best example of inflight Hypoxia I have ever heard

[fabmic]

The unidentified voice is another Controller, who got called by the mail Controller in this recording. Probably they had to coordinate a turn that brought the plane towards an area not under the main Controller's responsibility.

[zebidee55]

Thank you so much for uploading this, and for the thorough explanation of the circumstances. It's all to common on here to see aviation videos uploaded by clueless people.

That was an amazing piece of work by ATC. I'm impressed they correctly diagnosed the problem, and were able to help the pilots save the plane under such adverse circumstances.

[RyanBomar]

Thanks for posting this compelling piece of audio!

[JARRAH1415]

my flightschool people who work there met the guys on the plane they are lear pilots

[meltz911]

That is some scary stuff! How common is Hypoxia? Anyone? I'd like some real data on this, Pilots, I'm looking at you...

[daspidrr]

it's quite a thing... this should be a slow decompression of the aircraft, so you start feeling drowsy and tired, almost like drunk, because oxygen is not getting to your brain... slow decompression is dangerous because is hard to realize what's going on, but it is very rare indeed....

[propilotcfi]

Hypoxia is dangerous stuff...ive been in an altitude chamber and trained with a Letter box and questionaire. They make us take our masks off at FL240 and after about 1-2 minutes i couldnt put the pieces in the right spot and was spinning the box around like 10 times before the instructor asked me if i was ok. I didnt know how to respond to him so he put my mask on, and i snapped out of it as soon as oxygen was shot down my throat. It was very interesting

[capacityplus]

I take my hat off to the pilot. His determination, despite the conditions his brain was having to work under, was incredible.

[IndridCold07]

correction - May have been unconscious the whole time...

[IndridCold07]

2nd pilot was unconscious the whole time. Just talked about this clip @ the FAA ATC academy this week.

[Sh3pardMelody]

ok... iam confused... there was a second pilot the whole time?... why didnt he say somethingg

[MrOhjames]

@Sh3pardMelody That threw me off too but if you go back to the beginning you see that the second pilot is actually in a different plane and I guess is following beside Him. Which means pilot 1 is alone in the cockpit.

[mog89]

@MrOhjames I doubt pilot 1 is alone in the cockpit since I believe KFS66 is a Gates Learjet 35 with dual flight crew requirements. And the number 2 pilot is probably like you say in another aircraft closer to KFS66. Hence able to pick up the radio transmissions more clearly than flight control might be.

[MrOhjames]

@mog89 Aaah that makes sense! I wonder why He was silent.. Thats very odd.

[DougDaCosta]

Experience is gained by making mistakes...hopefully small mistakes.

[flyindart]

In full retrospect, it's appropriate to find a respectful dose of humor in the pilot's powerful statement, having no control over altitude, airspeed, or heading, "other than that, everything A-OK!"...

...then to be followed by ATC's mature, skilled response, with the pilot's primal desire to return the aircraft to it's base to cap it off?!

This event is the rawest example of "experience" I have ever seen.

[anisocoro]

@flyindart , this apparently meaningless Euphoria is result of incoming hypoxia, there are several reports of behavioural alterations when O2 levels are lowering under 79%. Actually, it is like becoming drunk, more or less.

[fluiter2004]

@flyindart I studie Aviation Studies in the Netherlands. The pilot doesn't want to be humourous, he can't help it. Hypoxia gives you (when you're almost fainting because of the lack of oxygen in your brain) an euforic feeling. Hypoxia is very dangerous because in most cases people don't even notice. They feel extremely happy when suffering from Hypoxia. That's why the air traffic controller already says he think's the pilot is suffering from Hypoxia. Still a fantastic job perform a save landing

[liftpow]

tenso

[JohnDH1977]

That was pretty intense!

[addi138]

something like this only happened on greece based helios airlines. all of them except one of the male stewards didnt pass out due to lack of o2. maybe he had put on the o2 mask. airforce jets were summoned to look into the matters of the ghost plane which had maintained its autopilot settings. but as the pilots also had passed out. the steward couldnt do anything. he crashed down the plane killing everyone aboard. thanks to natgeo i know this!

[DoctorIncredible]

awesome stuff. ive rode the altitude chamber as well. as a light/social/whatever smoker, i didnt really have a problem with it. i could tell hypoxia was creeping in but you just kinda adjust and work with it. its not the knockout punch some people make you think it is. i mean it CAN be, but really, keep your wits and understand what is going on. nice job to all involved. have a smoke!

[mkarnerfors]

Incredible clip. It's interresting to hear what happens when hypoxia sets in. His behaviour where his mind is obviously trying to act according to flight trainign and procedures, but at the same time severely hampered by the lack of oxygen is facinating.

[beergut111]

sounds like connie out trying to save a buck.

[IntoxicatedTV]

@beergut111

hey cocksuacka! you are fucking fired.", it's what connie would reply. that crazy old boss of mine

[Merlinbird]

Forget to turn the bleeds on?

[drawson25]

I know both pilots, and have flown with the captain a few different times. The FO didn't remember anything until you hear him come back on the radio around 11000 feet. Captain is a smoker, can't believe he didn't pass out completely. Thankfully this captain doesn't work for us anymore. There was nothing wrong with the airplane or the supplemental O2, pilot error in this case was the problem.

[bravo45]

What was the pilot error?

[joy2fly05]

I did the altitude chamber training just to see what hypoxia was like. Even after the class and the briefing, neither I nor my 8 classmates recognized it in time and the instructors had to put the O2 back on everyone. That was an eye-opener for sure.

[zuludelta100]

This is the ultimate example of cool heads prevailing in an emergency. man they should be so proud of themselves. They deserved the Archie Award for such professionalism. I think Pilots have become too dependant on new technologies, thank goodness there was old school on board, otherwise this would have been another sad story for the news. when the Co-pilot came too he didn't allow himself to be startled, he was brilliant as-well. But thank goodness for the people on the ground. HEROES.

[cryptogentic]

Why did they not have oxygen handy? It needs to be within easy reach whenever you are above 15,000 feet. The rule exists specifically so this won't happen.

[crazymonkeyVII]

they were probably not trained to recognise this situation, since atc had to realise by themself it was a case of hypoxia. therefore they did not put on their masks, because they didn't know they needed them.

strange thing about hypoxia is that you don't know it is happening to you till you hear yourself in playback when with 2 feet on the ground.

[CarlosLatino1]

wow.....wow!....MAN THAT SUX!...IMAGINE THE FUSTRATION!..WOW

[wiggy81594]

I know these pilots. The reason the second pilot didnt talk is because he was passed out. The only reason either of them lived is because they had the autopilot off since the captain was an old school pilot and flew by stick, so the muscle movements kept him alive long enough to decend.

[skat0r]

why is the pilot speaking, i mean the second pilot looks a lot more ok, he should do all the talking?!

[pocopilot]

Co-pilot wasn' didn't even know what was goin on...he couldn't talk at all.

[skat0r]

then who is second pilot and why did he reply to an instruction to the plane with the pilot with hypoxia..?!

you sure you're a pilot?

[pocopilot]

well they were around 35-40 thousand feet at first, then descended down to 11 thousand feet when the co-pilot regained consciousness and was able to speak clearly

[skat0r]

lol maybe, what ever its not that important

[N520UP]

because the second pilot is in a different airplane...

[soundlikeFabian]

why he speaks so slowly, hypoxia? omg, did they land safely?

[stefil9]

shit. hope it never happens to me =|

[helobelow]

Scary stuff! Great job by ATC!

[JC10255]

yikes......  you can hear the cabin altitude warning horn throughout most of the event.

[masterchiefgtx]

wow...so thats what happens when otherwise capable pilots are subjected to low oxygen levels...good thing he didn't pass out with the autopilot holding them at cursing altitude.

[bg11215]

you mean cruising altitude, not cursing altitude.

[masterchiefgtx]

Of course, I meant that.

[HouieLouy]

Hello vatusa!

[N756TA]

@HouieLouy Olah

[sundek88]

Incredible...