Real Pilot Story: Hidden Hazard
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- Опубликовано: 15 ноя 2023
- Flying his Mooney, Dan Bass was overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning and lost consciousness while airborne. He recounts the dreadful accident and his miraculous survival waking up in a snow-covered field in the bitter February cold.
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Video made by: @sensensomething
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Glad that this guy was able to come home to his family and also tell this story. Seems like a competent pilot, too. Happy to hear he kept flying. Thanks for sharing.
Competent pilot? Of course he is, being able to emergency land peacefully slumbering probably better than I would have done awake, he better has to be… 😃
@@losmosquitos1108👏👍🏻
He landed better unconscious than I do conscious.
I found it chilling when he said:
"At this point, I knew I didn't feel well, but I was just an hour from home."
He thought his daughter might have given him a case of the sick but little did he know he had full blown Get-there-itis.
This story has a certain aroma of bovine excrement. There seems to be some CYA comments being made to protect him from insurance liability.
@@Sky_Burger88as someone who deals with OSHA regularly, I also smell poop 😂
@@TheNattyPilot Ya. It smells like bull sh|t.
mind you he was already under the influence of the poisoning by this point
This is such an insane story...this guy is so lucky, truly a miracle. I'd plaster my cockpit with CO detectors after this experience lol
Make sure you add some CO detectors too, since it’s CO (carbon monoxide) and not CO2 (carbon dioxide) that nearly killed this guy 😉
@@lebojay lol yes i just realized what i wrote after reading it two times haha
Fellow Mooney pilot here, that CO poisoning is really insidious. I've got a color-changing pad taped to my panel but given the risks I think it's worth investing in something active that makes noise. Thanks for sharing your story, and I'm glad you made it down safely.
I would agree with this. A color changing pad won’t help much when you are intoxicated given your cognitive reasoning decreases exponentially. I have a built in CO detector in the G1000 and I also have a color changing pad on my panel.
Would highly recommend a mobile battery powered CO alarm. They’re cheap and they’re loud enough to be audible over the engine.
@luisdiaz2148 that would be my worry. Seeing the warning, but not thinking anything of it, similar to oxygen deficiency.
Also... im surprised its not a requirement for any closed cabin aircraft
you should get an electronic alarm, as other commenters say
So glad this channel is still up and running. RIP Richard.
Nothing short of a miracle to crash land while passed out and make it alive…
Fr!
When i was teaching, a student accidentally caused a backfire by flipping the magnetos off, then on during the run-up. I didn't think much of it and continued the lesson. After landing we realized the end of the exhaust pipe was cracked and split open. I would recommend having the entire exhaust inspected after any backfire event.
That sounds like coincidence. Turning the magnetos off shouldn't cause a backfire.
@@ItsAllAboutGuitar at a high throttle setting with the mags off, unburned fuel mixed with air close to the stoichiometric ratio will enter the hot exhaust pipe. That can easily ignite and burst the pipe.
@@bbgun061fuel and no spark was the way carburetor cars were made to blow fire out the exhaust on Catalytic deleted cars.
@@ItsAllAboutGuitarcan confirm that turning the mags off momentarily during the runup will result in a backfire. Happened to me in a 172.
@@ItsAllAboutGuitar It wasn't the turning off the magnetos that caused the backfire. It was the turning them back on.
I would pay to have an episode like this every month of the year. Literally pay.
This information is invaluable
I've never understood why many of us still only fly with the color change sticker. You won't even notice it! The electronic CO detectors cost next to nothing. You just have to check them regularly. If I open the door a crack at idle, the few particles that get into the cabin from the exhaust sound the full alarm in seconds, you can't miss it or overhear it.
As a Cessna 310Q owner and Class I Flight Instructor, I found this video fascinating. I would have liked to hear the pilot talk about the aftermath of his ‘landing’. Well done and great news that you survived and were able to share this story with others. 🇨🇦
the was a much longer (45minute) interview with him on "In the Hangar" ,
here is the link: ruclips.net/video/MfzfP5CZBj8/видео.htmlsi=aQhQd1PklL7tlsm2
I think he also gave talks/lectures at various aviation-college and pilot related program venues, some of which are on the internet...
Always maintain a "fear of flying!" That will keep one vigilant.
This is a perfect example of how insidious CO poisoning can be. It takes away your decision making capabilities without you knowing they are gone.
Having read stories like this and flying a small plane I went out and purchased a portable, high quality, always on, CO detector with a visible and audio alarm.
I just clip it right to my seatbelt. They are a little pricey (what isn't in aviation?) but it is well worth the price for my peace of mind and added safety.
Care to share which model you chose?
Protege ZM - CO Detector@@ddegn
I’ve got an battery powered CO detector in my plane and now after watching this I’m going to add a stick on CO detector as a backup, scary stuff but this pilot had so many warning signs and no CO detector. A oxymeter doesn’t seem like a great way to monitor anything other than oxygen levels and heartbeat. Great video.
And, as highlighted in the video, an oximeter doesn't measure oxygen, it measures the color of the blood. CO in the blood will look "better" than regular, oxygenated blood.
Agreed, CO blood is crazily red because it has a much much higher affinity with hemoglobin than oxygen does - which is why you need pressurized oxygen to treat CO poisoning.
Big problem with co, makes your decision making muddled, so more likely to ignore signs you would not have if you were not experiencing symptoms.
I would have also figured a pulse oximeter was a great safety item. Instead, it gives a false reading and could.... UHM, well ... End you your day, week, and years.
the stick-on things are useless. 1) They change so slowly, 2) they make no noise and flashing lights to get your attention, 3) They don't work.
Everytime on of these get published, I watch them. I doesn't matter where I am, or what I am doing. I always have to immediately watch the latest episode., as if to save my life. This is such a great service you provide. I love how you produce them and how useful this is for private pilots. Thank you so much!
I had a similar situation, also in WI, about 20+ years ago, with a better outcome. I had left Tomahawk at around midnight, flying my 182 back down to UNU and along the way things started not feeling right. I had many of the same symptoms. Headache, confusion, doubt. Suspecting an exhaust problem of sorts, I kept opening the side window for as long as I could stand the cold and I think that ultimately saved me. By the time I got to my airport, I was a shadow of my usual self but I had enough wherewithal to land. I'm no airplane mechanic, so my explanation may be a bit off base, but what I remember is them telling me that I had a cracked cylinder, and that lead to them looking for what he called a "paper trail" and that the gravity fed heat system had some kind of a leak that was penetrating the cabin. I think the two problems were related, but not sure anymore. Anyway, sadly, that was my last flight in that airplane. Rather than rebuild the engine, I was introduced to a buyer who wanted it as is. It was the right choice at the time. Always trust your instinct. If it doesn't feel right, it isn't.
I don't have any words to express how amazing this story is. I'm glad he survived to tell us his story.
I have had a panel mount Guardian CO detector in my RV-10 for ten years and it does a power on self test that has always been normal. But after watching this video I decided to really test it. With the plane in the hangar with hangar door open, I took a piece of shop vac flex hose and positioned my gas powered tug on the floor near the cabin door. Started the tug engine and held the hose to the muffler exhaust while holding the other end a couple of inches from the CO detector which was powered up. Lo and behold, the detector flashed yellow (45 ppm of CO) and started to beep in about 30 seconds, then flashed red (99 ppm of CO) and kept beeping at about one minute. Shut down the tug engine and just let the cabin air out. Red light changed to yellow, then green in about 60 seconds. Nice to know it really works after all these years, especially with winter coming.
In industry we call that due dilligence. When I was in law enforcement I investigated a multi fatality incident where a propane fridge in a small cabin killed four hunters. Very sad .
When smoke detectors were a new thing, before installing them in our home, I taped them to the clothesline outside and lit some rolled up newspaper to make sure they would go off.
@@Sashazur amazing
He’s got one hell of a story to tell his grand kids! Glad he survived this! Unbelievable!
I wish he would've talked about the aftermath a little bit. Like his injuries or what his family thought when he told them he slept through an airplane crash. lol. I can't believe he survived a crash while unconscious and that the plane landed in a completely empty field. An awake and alert pilot couldn't have picked a better spot.
Holy crap what a coincidence. Glad this guy is alright. My student and I met him getting fuel at Viroqua(Y51) like two months ago. Very nice guy, glad he's alright.
The innocence of flying really hit home. I remember flying with my dad when I was young (7-11 years old) vs now (37). It was much more enjoyable back then. Not having to worry about the things you worry about when you are older and more risk aware. Man this guy had someone watching over him. Incredible luck.
I have the (mis)fortune of knowing multiple pilots, including our own personal pilot, who perished while flying GA. Our pilot was a member of the same flying club that I am in, and flew some of the same aircraft I fly. As I started my training, and even in flights today, their lost lives aren't lost on me. I cancelled a flight due to fouled sparks, much to the annoyance of my CFI. I don't care -- if that engine quits at altitude, it's now a big ugly problem which didn't need to happen.
@@grayrabbit2211It seems all of us pilots after a while know one or two who are no longer with us. I knew two fellow college students who lost their lives in a midair with a seaplane. Being at a gathering for pilots and seeing the parents without their kid there was what really brought the harshness of the skies home for me. Taught me that whoever goes up, may not come down.
Wow! How amazing that this great pilot survived! You don't see someone blacking out at 12k feet and wake up thinking he is still flying wondering why it's so clear out! I am very thankful that these videos are created from the AOPA to inform and warm fellow pilots! Much appreciated and I wish all the best to this pilot.
Nice guy and super happy he survived in tact… besides “the creep of fear”. It’s tough to shake and sometimes impossible.
I just bought a plane and it got cold recently. I had pulled the heater flaps open and it smelled like exhaust and or oil. I placed my CO sensor near it for 10 mins and nothing went off. I since have ordered another to make sure this doesn’t happen to me too. You’re a very lucky fortunate person. It’s amazing you are here today to talk about it. Saved many lives I bet with this video.
The exhaust or burning oil smell could be from oil that has dripped into your exhaust tubes/heat exchanger thing. I had the same thing: oil/chemical smell with heater use but no CO. Cleaning up the exhaust to cabin heat shroud helped in my case. Just an idea to check. Hope you enjoy airplane ownership
@@nem6164 checked this week. Use the sentry CO2 set up and a separate portable one on backpack now
You can't smell CO.
Thanks for the thoughtful share. Loss of innocence indeed! Glad you made it.
In my flying career,i never turned on janitrol heater,dont trust them,just layered up n wore gloves...glad i did...now i can sit n read obout this stuff...
Those pulse oximeters are COMPLETELY useless for determining blood CO. They will accurately read your blood oxygen while totally missing the real killer: CO
Excellent point!
The O2 sensor mis reads the blood color of CO poisoned blood, and supplies bad data.
he said his pulse ox read higher than reality
I looked up the narrator, David O'Leary, and he LOOKS like he sounds. Smooth delivery indeed!
Sometimes it really isn’t your time to go and this is a prime example. Absolutely incredible, this man was holding short of death like a champ. Someone with a lot of power wants him to keep aviating.
Wow! So glad you made it out of that experience and are able to help others be more aware of this. Hindsight is really 20/20 huh? Terrifying you took your family up the day before 😱. This commentary is truly spoken like someone who has contemplated everything that could’ve happened that day 1 million times.
Dude shouldn't waste any money on lotto or casinos. His luck is used up.
pls.
Dan,
It’s always good to see you telling this CO story!
I just got a new CO detector this year.
Keep spreading the word…. You are saving lives and airplanes!
😃
- a -
I heard this on the "There I was" podcast. It was just as chilling to watch this video even knowing what was going to happen.
Every instructor and students sholuld watch this, especially with winter coming.
Ever since the beginning I've constantly looked for places to land along my flight path. It's something my instructors at the time constantly drove into us. Nothing would have helped in this case, but I found it surprising that he wasn't doing this at all till now. At least he learned something out of the whole mess. Glad he made it.
CO poisoning killed my father in 1973 while flying a C-175. He came down in the ocean rather than a field.
I am truly sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing this with us so that we can learn from it.
I heard about this a while ago when he was on some sort of radio show/podcast thing. He was adamant that people invest in electronic CO detectors. I'm curious why insurance companies don't just purchase these en masse for the aircraft they insure and/or give an incentive that completely offsets the cost of the device.
Lucky you’re alive ! Bless you
This is insane. When people say, "it wasn't his time," this is the kind of sh*t they're talking about.
A lesson we ALL can learn from this - if you find yourself experiencing frequent headaches, SEE A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER RIGHT AWAY. Not so much because you are experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning, but because persistent headache is a significant symptom of a number of very dangerous neurological and cardiological symptoms, not to mention cancers. Don't just shrug off headaches.
very happy for the pilot. Whoever programmed that autopilot must be very proud
Wow, that is quite a story! Thank you for sharing this.
I don't understand how a person would think that an airplane crash couldn't be fatal.
As a non-pilot, every part of this man's story is surprisingly relatable
As always thank you ASI for sharing. I actually bought the Lightspeed Delta Zulu for just this reason; build in CO detector with audio alerts. Great job from the pilot with the off airport landing.
Thanks for sharing. These kinds of stories help the rest of us stay safe! Glad you made it out alive
Thank you for sharing. What a miracle he is alive.
Great learning experience...he was extremely fortunate to live to tell about it.
Woah! It’s insidious how we can explain away multiple hints that something is wrong. This was very valuable to hear; thank you.
Excellent telling of his story. Thank you.
Very happy to hear you survived it! Very intense hownit all played out. I have a CO decector but will likely get another after seeing this video.
Thank you AOPA, super helpful! I love these videos.
The plane crashing saved his life . Unbelievable story.
I found the real world description of symptoms very useful. It's a good reminder that they aren't always textbook and may come and go.
Flying at night in that cold, is asking for trouble particularly in an older plane.
Great story! Thanks for sharing and glad it worked out ok!
Incredibles story. I fly out of KEAU so this hits close to home. I will be sharing this with my students as we prepare for winter flying.
I'm glad this turned out as well as it did. Duluth used to be my home airport back in my traveling days. This is a good awareness for both in the air and at home. I'm also a retired volunteer firefighter. I can say that it is a very good thing to have multiple CO detectors in the home, preferably a couple in the basement in the lowest part of the home.
Really, really good. Thanks for sharing!
Incredible story, glad the gentleman survived the ordeal
Amazing! Good for this nice fellow! And a thumbs-up for that Mooney, it's a dream aircraft!!
Heard his story when he told it at the Mooney Convention some years back, wild.
Wow. Good watch. Glad Mr. Bass survived and did this vid
I am so glad to see this channel continue.
RIP: Richard McSpadden.
watched this twice. Thanks for putting this out
That was an extremely helpful video. Thank you.
Excellent interview and an eye opening story. Glad you survived to tell the story and sorry about your after effects though understandable. All I can say after about 40 yrs of flying and being a mechanic, take care of your engine and it will take care of you. I recommend 30 hr oil changes along with checking the interior of the oil filter will help your anxioty.
thanks for the story
What I would like to understand is how the aircraft landed in what looks like a relatively level attitude. I am guessing he trimmed for cruise climb, and pitched over once the fuel was exhausted, gaining airspeed and then pitching up again. If that is what happened, then his landing occurred at just the right attitude in the multiple cycles of pitch change. There are a lot of unknowns, but one thing is certain: he was extremely lucky in the location of his landing!
This guy is such a great story teller..:explains things logically
These stories are full of valuable lessons not only for flying, but for life in general.
Incredible!
Great story. Glad he made it!
This is a good example to all low hour pilots that fight the controls.
These aircraft are inherently stable, if you get a gust of wind, don't fight it, just assist the aircraft, chances are it will return without any input.
This aircraft with no input, continued to fly with no pilot input until it ran out of altitude.
Well told, kudos.
Thanks for sharing this story. I totally underestimated the hazards of CO poisoning and thought I would be able to spot the CO leak. It now seems much more difficult to do. And oximeters are a little help, even misleading. Very good to know especially with the winter season coming
My family and I were saved by a carbon monoxide alarm in our home. I am so grateful for this invention. My babies and I wouldn't have woken up without it. Thanks for sharing this amazing story of survival, Dan Bass.
I just quit woking for a resto where half my collegues were smoking and making me sick and angry everyday for 2 yrs. I realize that mgt. doesn't care and just views it as a nuisance. No-the million butts in the alley are just a nuisance. Have filed a claim and have been convalescing for the last 2 wks. Breathing better!
Thank you for sharing. Warmest regards from LOWL
Thankfully he's still alive! That's very good news!
Great video
Thanks for telling the story! Glad I don't have to worry about that in the gliders, but boy, we do fly at high altitude often so hypoxia is a real risk
He didn't realize that his guardian angel had a pilot's license! 😅
Thanks for describing the symptoms. Now I realize that driving around with the smell of exhaust in the car (in my case it was a cracked exhaust collector) was foolish. Plane or car, disorientation that follows CO poisoning can lead to an accident, perhaps a fatal one.
I had no idea that a pulse oximeter would read higher than normal when there is CO exposure. Good to know that it isn't useful in detecting CO poisoning!
I always keep the pilot side air vent open just a little bit blowing a tiny bit of fresh air on my face (PA-24) even when it’s very cold out for this very reason. And I even have a panel mounted CO detector. Getting heat from around the muffler is risky but with a few precautions can be just fine
The problem with CO…. It stays in the blood and accumulates. Even with outside air being directed at your face….
Land, unless everything works. Reverse the thinking "Stay Airborne, unless something breaks"
What a story, glad we got to hear it directly from this pilot, if you know what I mean?
Pulse oximetry will not tell you if you're experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning.
Oh wow , what a story !
I'm not a pilot but i come from commercial inland navigation and i see this "innocence of flight" Dan describes when people go on trips with their motorboats or yachts. you could also call it naivety. because when you spend a lot of time in a "travel medium" doesn't matter if its air, water or the street especially when you are a professional you get a lot of experience and start to develop the sense (or say should develop a sense) for potential dangers where regular people don't see them. I've seen and experienced a lot of critical situations in my work life and I always go through all the possible things in my head that can go wrong and how i could react. you should also sit down in a calm moment at home and think about critical situations that could possibly happen and how you would react and what you could do to avoid it or what countermeasures you could take. that's more or less the reason for checklists, think about a problem and how to solve it , write it down in simple steps so you can do it when you are in a stressful situation and maybe remember the direction but not all the steps or maybe miss one or two.
What a story.
Single biggest factor why even with a Garmin panel, I still fly with my Sentry...it has an awesome CO detector built in.
We put CO detectors in all our club"s planes. Funny to see, that CO level get's higher (some 8-10 milis) during approach with full flaps :)
By the way, opening window is not always a good idea - quite often exhaust gas comes into the cockpit through the opened windows because of changed air flow caused by the window...
Depends on the airframe, the angle of attack, and the positioning of the exhaust, yeah. Honestly if you've got solid indications of increasing carbon monoxide I'd take the risk of changing something and hoping for better. Close the heat vents, open the windows, do what you can to try to get fresh cold air in.
Great video. Don’t show the Duluth controllers how nice the tower is in the video compared to the real one 😂.
Impossible to happen unless an angel landed that thing. God loves this guy.
My only comment, as a Brit who was posted to work from time to time in America. I was not surprised by his remark that he thought the authorities would 'lock him up'. An attitude which I often observed, and to me seemed crazy for a minor mistakes. However, the assumption that the Federal Authorities are heartless devils just out to get you was not uncommon. It always puzzled me.
Without a doubt a great report for the time of year in the northern hemisphere. An investment in a detector or two is negligible in relation to suffering CO symptoms and losing your life. That flight apart from a miracle is an exception to what will normally happen.
It’s absolutely insane he survived this ?
Scary yet fortunate series of events!
Have you got back in the saddle, or was it time to keep walking...away?
Unbelievable how that plane stayed level enough through the decend to the ground and happened to be pointed at an open smooth field.. absolutely hard to believe. Would the auto pilot still be keeping the wings level in a situation like this? I would've thought it would kick off.. or the airplane would stall like that private jet did that flew over DC then crashed in NC.