Stale air reduces pilots’ emergency responses

Stale cockpit air impairs pilots’ ability to handle emergencies on planes, a study has found. Flight simulator tests carried out by Harvard scientists showed that as carbon dioxide (CO2) levels were raised, the pilots found manoeuvres more difficult.

Pilots were 69 per cent more likely to pass a manoeuvre test when CO2 levels in air were 700 parts per million compared with 2,500 ppm. The negative effects of CO2 became more pronounced the longer pilots were in the simulator.

The study was published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.