Decompression Sickness - Beechcraft Musketeer Sport III A23-19 Pilot Operating Handbook

Sectlon X
Safety lnformatlon
~ft
Single Englne (Piston)
monoxide have the same effect as an altitude increase of
8,000 to 10,000 feet. Smoking several cigarettes can result
in a carbon monoxide saturation sufficient to affect visual
sensitivity equal to an increase ot 8,000 teet
altitude.
DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS
Pilots flying unpressurized airplanes at
altiłudes
in excess of
10,000 feet should be alert for the symptoms ot 'decompres·
sion sickness'. This phenomenon, while rare, can impair the
pilot's ability to perform and in extreme cases, can result in
the victim being rendered unconscious. Decompses1>. i 9r:L
sickness, also known as dysbarism and aviators
"bends~
•. is
caused by nitrogen bubble formation in body tissue ·as the
ambient air pressure is reduced by climbing to higher alti·
tudes. The symptoms are pain in the joints, abdominal
cramps, burning sensations in the skin, visual impairment
and numbness. Some of these symptoms are similar to hyp- .
oxia. The only known remedy for decompression sickness is
recompression, which can only be accomplished in an
unpressurized airplane by descending. The pilot should
immediately descend
ił
it is suspected that this condition
exists, since the effects will only worsen with continued
exposura to the reduced pressure environment at altitude
1
and could result, if uncorrected, in compieta incapacitation. ·
The possibility of decompression sickness can be greatly .
reduced by pre-breathing oxygen prior to flight and by com- ~
mencing oxygen breathing well below the
altiłudes
where it
is legally mandatory.
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10-46
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May, 1994