SAB-TR-11-04, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ADVISORY BOARD: REPORT ON AIRCRAFT OXYGEN GENERATION (01-FEB-2012)

TR-11-04, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD: REPORT ON AIRCRAFT OXYGEN GENERATION (01-FEB-2012)., Airborne Oxygen Generation (AOG) Systems are used on most fighter aircraft due to reduced servicing and logistics support, and safety considerations. The F-22 aircraft is equipped with such a system to provide breathing air to the pilot. This system takes engine bleed air and concentrates it to the appropriate partial pressure of oxygen as determined by the cabin altitude. Beginning in 2008, the F-22 aircraft began to experience a significantly higher rate of hypoxia-like incidents with unknown causes as reported by the pilots. The Air Force was not able to determine the “root cause” for these incidents and a further review was recommended to the Secretary of the Air Force. The Secretary then tasked the United States Air Force (USAF) Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to perform a Quicklook Study to cover three areas: 1. Continue the ongoing efforts to determine root cause(s), to include: Gathering data during dynamic, in-flight testing; full reviews of both the life support equipment and the aircraft’s potential for passing contaminants into the cockpit and/or breathing air; and finally, to better understand the similarities and differences between the F-22 oxygen generating system and other military aircraft. 2. A better understanding of the conditions that would create hypoxia-like symptoms at altitudes not normally associated with hypoxia, along with an evaluation of the guidance associated with the breathing air standards and the human response to operating in the F-22’s extraordinary flight envelope with less than 90% supplied oxygen. 3. Review the policies, processes, and procedural changes that occurred during the F-22’s development and fielding, and evaluate the implications with respect to design limitations, risk analysis, program execution, and acquisition workforce. This report provides the results of that Study.