What happens when you pass out during different phases of flight?
- Thread starter wildb
- Start date
Zeldman
Touchdown! Greaser!
the plane eventually goes crash. Even with as autopilot it will eventually crash.
John221us
En-Route
Nothing good, but there are a lot of factors that could affect the outcome. Slow taxi into a ditch while driving a 172 probably wouldn't be fatal unless it caught fire.
Yes but how long is the average pass out? I would assume that during cruise you could pass out and come back to before any unrecoverable situation occurs. During take off, assuming you are trimmed correctly wouldn't you continue to climb out until you came to, assuming you didn't pull the ailerons during pass out.
There's been a few high-profile hypoxia situations that say otherwise.
Clark1961
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2008
- Messages
- 17,737
- Display Name
Display name:
Display name:
tools required
Rigged4Flight
Cleared for Takeoff
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2012
- Messages
- 1,105
- Display Name
Display name:
Rigged4Flight
I'm all about exchanging ideas and honest questions, sharing our faults and failures to help each other become better students/pilots/aviators, etc... But I find myself forced to add this to the list of stupid questions I've seen on the internet.
bflynn
Final Approach
Besides, who cares, you're unconscious.
Or do you have a medical concern that you didn't want to accidentally reveal?
Last edited:
acrophile
Line Up and Wait
- Joined
- May 26, 2013
- Messages
- 760
- Display Name
Display name:
acrophile
The important question is whether you can log PIC time while you're unconscious.
Seriously, though, if you are at risk for losing consciousness, you should never fly except with another pilot who is prepared to take over.
Seriously, though, if you are at risk for losing consciousness, you should never fly except with another pilot who is prepared to take over.
Morgan3820
En-Route
Not so stupid. As I mentioned in another post, I saw a guy passout in the pattern. It was his first solo and he hyperventilated. The plane did a desending turn into the ground. He lived but broke every bone in his body, well almost. He was in a Tomahawk which has a built in tubular frame. It rolled up like a ball of foil as it was designed to do.
ClimbnSink
Ejection Handle Pulled
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2007
- Messages
- 6,997
- Display Name
Display name:
Greg
Solution is to remember to drink less alcohol then usual while flying at high altitudes. All about managing the buzz.
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2012
- Messages
- 15,252
- Display Name
Display name:
Velocity173
Not to mention it's an open ended question with no simple answer. What type of pass out? Is it due to G force? Is it a medical condition? Too many variables to answer and too many specific aircraft equipment variations to provide an answer.
brien23
Cleared for Takeoff
Might be a better outcome than if you were in your car driving 60mph as long as you wake up before you hit the ground.
tmyers
En-Route
More importantly is the fact that one of the questions on your medical (18c to be precise) is whether or not you have ever been unconscious. If passing out is an issue you will not get a medical.
orange
Line Up and Wait
Ding! Ding! Ding!
I'm thinking OP has a condition he hid during the medical, or he's thinking about hiding. And now he's assessing the risk.
If that's not it, I'm with the other poster who said it's one of the dumbest questions on this board.
tyndall
Pre-takeoff checklist
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2009
- Messages
- 321
- Display Name
Display name:
LawnDart
Errr, say what now?
Neal Howard
Cleared for Takeoff
Most normal people encounter a period of 6 to 8 hours of unconsciousness every night.
tmyers
En-Route
Some people do seem unconscious when they sleep but there is still a difference.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk
Morgan3820
En-Route
Errr, say what now?
Yup, the PA-38 Tomahawk, designed as a trainer from the inception was built around a tubular steel frame. The idea was that the rest of the aircraft would act as an energy adsorbing crumple zone leaving the cabin intact. I know this because I was student when they first came out and my FBO was one of the first buyers. I always liked them.
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2013
- Messages
- 4,082
- Location
- The city of Townsville
- Display Name
Display name:
Mantis Toboggan, MD
I'm with you; however, per the OP:
If you experience GLOC during any of these phases you're doing something very, very wrong.
Nauga,
who got that X
dmspilot
Final Approach
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2006
- Messages
- 5,865
- Display Name
Display name:
DISPLAY NAME
You ask that question as if people are randomly passing out on a regular basis. To answer it, I think it would depend upon the cause.
eman1200
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2013
- Messages
- 18,891
- Location
- Oakland, CA
- Display Name
Display name:
Bro do you even lift
If we're talking autoerotic asphyxiation in flight, I can provide plenty of feedback, otherwise I'm out of the loop here.
Jimmy cooper
En-Route
This is most assuredly a question for professor Irwin Cory who cannot be reached at this site.
FlySince9
En-Route
Sac Arrow
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- May 11, 2010
- Messages
- 20,356
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
- Display Name
Display name:
Snorting his way across the USA
"Okay I'm a free fall skydiver. What would happen if I passed out shortly after I jumped?"
I can count maybe three things that might happen, and none of them require a degree in rocket science to figure out.
I can count maybe three things that might happen, and none of them require a degree in rocket science to figure out.
You lose your ability to hold a medical, at least until you get a whole lot of medical work done, read $$$$$$.