{"id":20062,"date":"2021-09-03T20:54:10","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T20:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/03\/the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:38:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:38:04","slug":"the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/09\/03\/the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says\/","title":{"rendered":"The Air Force is fighting in-flight physiological issues but can\u2019t end them, Pentagon watchdog says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force has made dozens of changes to reduce the risk of flight sickness among airmen who fly five types of military aircraft, but says it can\u2019t erase the problem altogether after more than a decade of studies, according to a new report from the Pentagon Inspector General\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt cannot completely eliminate [physiological events] caused by unanticipated aircraft malfunctions or human factors,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2021\/Sep\/02\/2002845862\/-1\/-1\/1\/DODIG-2021-120.PDF\">Sept. 2 report<\/a> said of the Air Force, later adding: \u201cAll occupations have some hazards that cannot be eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those incidents \u2014 such as hypoxia, hyper- and hypoventilation, decompression sickness, trapped gas disorders, gravity-induced loss of consciousness, spatial disorientation and visual issues, and toxic substance exposure \u2014 have rattled the aviation community and spurred nearly 70 research studies of aircraft and airmen\u2019s breathing systems since October 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly 600 physiological events occurred across six kinds of Air Force planes between fiscal 2010 and 2020, including the F-15, F-22, F-35A and T-6A fleets, according to the Air Force Safety Center. The issues have led the service to temporarily ground the aircraft as it tried to figure out the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/02\/12\/breathing-easier-after-years-of-t-6-hypoxia-scares-the-air-force-thinks-it-has-the-fix\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/hypoxia_main.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Breathing easier: After years of T-6 hypoxia scares, the Air Force thinks it has the fix<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Air Force is rolling out a series of fixes that it thinks will solve the problem once and for all \u2014 and may have already started cutting down on hypoxia and hypoxia-like incidents<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than half of those, or 323 incidents, happened in the T-6A Texan II trainer aircraft, followed by the F-22 Raptor fighter at 92, F-15E Strike Eagle fighter at 70, F-15C and D Eagle fighters at 62, and F-35A Lightning II at 28. Incidents in the T-6A far outpace the others, logging more than seven times as many physiological episodes than the fighter jets in fiscal 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The episodes can be disorienting to deadly, as in the deaths of four Navy F\/A-18 Hornet pilots over 10 years that were linked to oxygen system failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To determine whether the Air Force has made progress in addressing the problem, the Defense Department watchdog looked into the propeller-driven T-6A, the first platform students fly in basic aircraft training, as well as the three F-15 variants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The T-6A has the highest rate of pilot-reported physiological events among training aircraft, as does the F-15E among fighters, the IG said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/08\/02\/house-panel-demands-another-investigation-into-f-35-pilot-breathing-system-problems\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F-35-pilot.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">House panel demands another investigation into F-35 pilot breathing system problems<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">More than 40 physiological episodes have occurred in the F-35. Congress wants to know why.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fixes fall into six categories: guidance, training, testing, maintenance, new designs and development, and research. Most of the completed changes were finished within two years, but a few took more than three years to close out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of March 22, the Air Force had implemented 47 of 79 safety recommendations that stemmed from service investigations into mishaps in those aircraft. It has also offered training to identify potential causes and symptoms of these health incidents and how to handle them if they happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It also changed aircraft maintenance procedures and modified the aircraft to bolster safety, and was updating the design criteria for future purchases of breathing systems. Still, the program office that manages each fleet must decide whether it wants to make upgrades to meet the new standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other initiatives have included starting to install cockpit pressure warning systems and improving canopy maintenance to avoid depressurization in the F-15C, and creating an automatic backup oxygen system for the T-6A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOf the 32 open recommendations, 12 recommendations related to new design and development,\u201d the IG report said. \u201cAccording to [Air Force Safety Center] personnel, some recommendations require that an entire fleet of aircraft be upgraded or modified to close the recommendation. This process could take time and may require additional funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The IG redacted information about the specific recommendations in its report, including the actions taken and when they were implemented. The Air Force has said it hopes to have all the changes in place by fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/06\/12\/a-fix-is-coming-for-a-problem-that-left-two-f-35-pilots-in-excruciating-pain\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5219144.jpg_b5e369.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">A fix is coming for a problem that left two F-35 pilots in \u2018excruciating\u2019 pain<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Oxygen deprivation isn&#039;t the only issue known to cause physiological episodes among F-35 pilots.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report argues that the Air Force\u2019s interventions are working, though a sustained decline in the rate of incidents isn\u2019t yet clear. The IG office found that the average rate of physiological incidents in the T-6A has dropped since fiscal 2018, but has fluctuated over the past few years across the F-15 fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force has reasonable internal controls in place to ensure that it can effectively improve safety in the aircraft reviewed during the study, the IG said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Air Force actions show that PEs are a serious issue and the Air Force functions as a team with collaborating partners to address a weakness in the fluctuations of oxygen levels in the cockpit to ensure aircrew safety across all aircraft platforms,\u201d the report said. \u201cTherefore, we are not making any recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAll occupations have some hazards that cannot be eliminated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3484],"class_list":["post-20062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YHEP5ZDHBJDNTLNH7BOLH3QBEY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2021\/09\/03\/the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Air Force is fighting in-flight physiological issues but can\u2019t end them, Pentagon watchdog says - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cAll occupations have some hazards that cannot be eliminated.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Air Force is fighting in-flight physiological issues but can\u2019t end them, Pentagon watchdog says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAll occupations have some hazards that cannot be eliminated.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2021\/09\/03\/the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-03T20:54:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T20:38:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel S. 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Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/03\\\/the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/03\\\/the-air-force-is-fighting-in-flight-physiological-issues-but-cant-end-them-pentagon-watchdog-says\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": 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