House subcommittee tackles military pilots’ oxygen issues in defense bill

A subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee is taking steps in its portion of the annual defense policy bill to address physiological episodes that have been hitting military pilots midflight, committee staffers said Wednesday.

“This mark reflects the continued emphasis on keeping this issue in the spotlight at senior department-level leadership so we can continue to work this,” a staffer told reporters at a background briefing.

Navy and Air Force pilots on various aircraft have been reporting unexplained incidents of hypoxia, which is when the body is deprived of oxygen at the tissue level.

There have also been unexplained incidents of disorientation, and hypocapnia and hypercapnia, which is when there is abnormally low and high levels, respectively, of carbon dioxide in the blood.

To help address the issue, the Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee’s portion of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has four provisions related to physiological episodes.

One provision would require modifications to the F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft to mitigate physiological episodes. It would also require the secretary of the Navy to report to Congress on the status of modifications by Feb. 1, 2019, and then annually through February 2021. {mosads}

Modifications would have to include replacing the cockpit altimeter, upgrading the onboard oxygen system, redesigning the life support systems, installing improved physiological monitoring and alert systems and installing an automatic ground collision avoidance system.

Another provision would require the Navy and Air Force secretaries to submit to Congress a certification 15 days before entering into a contract that new aircraft will have the latest technological advancements to minimize physiological episodes.

A third provision would require a report from the Navy by March 1, 2019, on modifications to T–45 trainer aircraft to mitigate physiological episodes.

The final provision would require the Air Force to submit a report to Congress by March 1, 2019, on all of the service’s efforts to reduce the risk and occurrences of physiological episodes in F–35A fighter jets, T–6A trainer aircraft and any other Air Force planes determined by the secretary of the Air Force.

The subcommittee will consider its portion of the NDAA at a markup 12:30 p.m. Thursday.