New budget request addresses PEs

The Navy has two top aviation safety priorities that need to be addressed. One is the physiological episodes (PEs) in the T-45C Goshawk trainer and the F-18; and developing a new gunner seat to alleviate back and neck problems for MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter crews. Both could benefit from a $500M bump in funding for aircraft modification kits if the service’s new FY 2019 budget request is approved by Congress. For FY-19, the Navy is requesting $3.15B for modification kits, a 16 percent jump from FY-18’s $2.71B proposal. The kits are supposed to correct deficiencies and improve operational capabilities in current aircraft. The PE episodes in the T-45C and F-18 had been increasing for a decade, culminating in March 2017 when 94 flights were canceled due to pilot concerns with the onboard oxygen generation systems (OBOGS) onboard T-45 Goshawk trainer aircraft flown out of Naval Air Stations Meridian, Miss.; Pensacola, Fla.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. Last June, the Navy’s Physiological Episodes Comprehensive Review reported that the integration of OBOGS in the T-45 and F/A-18 was “inadequate to consistently provide high quality breathing air” and to varying degrees “neither aircraft is equipped to continuously provide clean, dry air to OBOGS.” The result is that contaminants can enter the aircrews’ breathing air and “potentially induce hypoxia.” The Navy has installed CRU-123 solid state oxygen monitoring units throughout the T-45 fleet. The unit alert aircrew to falling oxygen pressure and allows more time to take corrective action to prevent a PE. Based on a NASA report, the Navy is also installing more precise monitoring equipment to gauge pilot breathing. (Source: USNI News 02/15/18)