Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Breathing Is Overrated

There has recently been a lot of information coming out on problems with the F-22, including a recent report on 60 minutes.  Apparently some pilots are refusing to fly the plane because of safety concerns.  In particular, there have been many incidents of the oxygen system malfunctioning or stopping altogether.

In one of those cases, in November 2010, Capt Jeff Haney had his oxygen cut off completely, and his plane crashed into the ground at faster than the speed of sound.  The Air Force could not determine what caused his oxygen to cut off, but did have the wherewithal to blame the crash on pilot error because Capt. Haney was "was too distracted by his inability to breathe to fly the plane properly."  (Their actual language was more technical and said "The unique and added stress of the breathing restriction contributed to the [pilot's] channelized attention.")

I hate it when you are so distracted by unimportant things, like breathing, to be able to focus on other things. The ability to breath is so overrated.  If only we could get past that then these planes would be totally safe to fly.

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