To-Do-Item #13 Carbon Monoxide Detector

[AR Dave]

13. Install a carbon monoxide detector. The paper stick-ons are neither durable nor sensitive enough for serious use. The best ones are specifically designed for aircraft use and are permanently mounted. See Aircraft Spruce, Chief, etc. for aircraft C.O. Detectors. (Residential/Home types are rarely sensitive enough for aircraft use, although Canadian types are generally more sensitive than those intended for the U.S. market. U.S. rules are designed to prevent false alarms, which may be too insensitive for value in an aircraft.)

Occasionally, we hear of the incapacitation of a pilot and/or co-pilot where the passenger has to land the plane. In this case, the daughter of the pilot was in the back of the plane and not affected by the carbon monoxide gas. She was not a pilot and did a superb job according to airport officials.

IDENTIFICATION
Make/Model: PA46 Description: PA-46 Malibu, Malibu Mirage
Date: 08/09/2004 DESCRIPTION
ACFT SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTURE PILOT BECAME INCAPACITATED, DAUGHTER CONTACTED BOSTON TRACON AND WITH THE HELP OF THE CONTROLLER, RETURNED TO AIRPORT AND LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT, LACONIA, NH

Most of you know that I’ve become a believer in CO detectors since Traci and I found our cabin heat to be leaking. This was 15 hrs after annual, on our flight to the Lower 48, in late October 2002. The Chemical Spot Detector saved our lives. We had just bought a fresh card for the trip and Traci noticed the yellow dot had turned black. However I am not a fan of these card detectors for several reasons, mainly because they don’t start turning color until 100 ppm, so hopefully you’re lucky and will notice it (like we did) by 200-400 ppm. Of course the card must be fresh (they last 30 days) and not contaminated, the card can be contaminated by a list of different vapors like from cleaning chemicals, solvents, ammonia’s, whatever’s in the fine print. But like I said, the Chemical Spot Detector DID save our lives.

We bought a new heater and three risers. Our mechanic installed the new unit, signed it off, and we were all happy. However, by this time I’d bought my new CO detector. So on the next flight, the first 85-decibel alarm sounded 2 beeps at 25 ppm. Total surprise! Since then we’ve taken the heater off 3 times and tried everything we can think of to get the leaks to stop at the muffler/riser connections. Each time we would have thought the job was complete if not for our troubleshooting CO detector. At one point I had to prove the detector’s calibration to my mechanic. I took it to the fire station and the fire chief stuck his detector, along with mine, up to the exhaust of a fire truck. Tracked perfectly.

Obviously, I’ve brought this up again to bring the CO Detector topic to the TO-DO-LIST as George suggested. It would be nice to hear some updated feedback about specific CO detectors in this location. With this subject located in the To-do-list, I’ll give it a rest. Some of the detectors mentioned before are:

AIM, model 935, Hand Held, ~ $70.
Sporty's, CO Detector - $49, 9-volt battery.
AeroMedix, Senco Model One for $75
AeroMedix, CO Expert Model 2004, 9 volt for $100

I bought the CO Expert 2002 – Obviously I’m very happy with it, but I’ve never seen another aircraft detector. Except the Fire Chief’s which was located on his key chain. Now that’s the one to have. I’ve assumed it would probably be expensive but maybe I should check back and ask him about it. The only thing that might be improved on mine is, it’s about 6x4” in size and 10 oz. But the display updates every 10 seconds, so I can open/close windows, cabin heat/air, move the detector to different places, for instant troubleshooting. It runs on a 9-volt battery, which I remove in between use. I’m thinking this might prolong the life of the analyzer which is supposed to be 5 yrs. http://www.aeromedix.com - this is the site where I bought mine.

Also to view diff discussions on this topic, type Monitor into the Search Feature

[AR Dave]

The dramatic crash of Piper Dakota N8263Y made all the evening TV newscasts. The experienced instrument-rated pilot and his 71-year-old mother had departed Farmingdale Airport on New York's Long Island at 11:15 a.m. on a VFR flight to Saranac Lake, N.Y., about two hours' flying time to the north. But less than a half-hour into the flight, something went terribly wrong: the pilot-in-command passed out cold. Thirty-six minutes into the flight, the passenger (who was herself a low-time private pilot) radioed Boston Center and told the controller that the pilot was unresponsive and vomiting, and they were in trouble. After determining that the passenger was pilot-rated, the controller spent the next 20 minutes trying to talk her down to a landing at Bridgeport, Conn. An Air National Guard helicopter joined up with the aircraft and participated in the talk-down attempt, but without success.
Forty-five minutes into the flight, the woman reported that she, too, was getting tired and nauseated, and was unable to awaken the pilot. Shortly thereafter, the airplane turned north and started climbing, and the woman stopped responding to radio calls. The aircraft gradually climbed into the 5,000-foot cloud bases and continued climbing to 8,800 feet. The helicopter lost sight of the emergency aircraft but attempted to follow it with the help of ATC. About two hours into the flight, the aircraft descended out of the clouds and the helicopter established visual contact, reporting that the cabin appeared to be full of smoke and nobody was visible through the windows. Not long afterwards, the helicopter pilot reported that the Dakota had started descending rapidly and crashed into the woods near Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H. Both occupants were fatally injured in the crash.
Toxicological tests in the FAA lab in Oklahoma City revealed that the pilot's blood had a carboxyhemoglobin (CO) saturation of 43%, and the passenger's measured 69%. Those concentrations are sufficient to produce convulsions and coma. NTSB metallurgists determined that the muffler contained a large crack and an irregular hole, both of which appeared to have been leaking exhaust gas for some time.

[GAHorn]

I've worked on three different high-wing Cessna's which had CO in the cabin, and the fix on all three airplanes was different.
One, a straight-tailed 182, was allowing CO to travel up from the tailcone/stinger area and into the cabin thru the rear headliner area above the baggage bulkhead. The fix involved closing off the rear baggage area with sheet metal, above/behind the hat shelf.
Another was a 170, which allowed CO to enter at the left, lower wing-strut where an opening clearly allowed the left exhaust to enter the floor area.
And the third was a 172 that allowed it to enter the lower fuselage at a belly-mounted rotating beacon (that had considerable exhaust stains on it) and the CO then travelled forward in the fuselage to the cabin.
The fix on these last two was to install rubber gasketing at the point of entry.
It was interesting to me to notice that airflow can move forward from the rear fuselage to the cabin. Many times in winter we'll close off fresh-air vents to conserve heat in the cabin. I think this might reduce cabin air-pressure and allow the ingress of CO.
Anytime you suspect CO I think it'd be a good idea to open fresh-air ventilation to bring in fresh air and increase cabin air pressure. LIve with the cold until you can get it on the ground. (No pun intended.)

[n3833v]

I just replaced mine with the Aeromedix 2004 on special for 99.00. I very seldom ever get a peap out of it, but I wouldn't be without one. We had a scare at the house with a wood stove and I believe in them.

[mvivion]

I've had the Aero 452 panel mounted Carbon Monoxide detector mounted in my 170 for several years, and am very impressed with the unit.

Its advantages:

It is aircraft powered, so you never have to remember to change batteries, etc.

It is very compact, and takes up virtually no panel space, unlike the other CO detectors mentioned here so far, which are pretty large, bulky pieces, that take up a lot of space.

It is tso'd. It is an airplane device, tested for use in aircraft, not a household detector that you are sticking in an airplane.

It has both audible (as in VERY audible) and visual indicators.

Unlike the little paper devices that you stick on somewhere, this thing will reset, and tell you if opening a window or ventilating the cabin has resolved the problem. The paper devices stay black for a long time (some never change back) after they are exposed to CO.

CO can be a real killer. The panel mounted units are the hot ticket, in my opinion.

You will have to get either a field approval, or a mechanic courageous enough to sign it off as a minor alteration. It is tso'd, though, which helps to convince the FAA that its been tested for use in aircraft.

Mine was field approved. I approached a maintenance inspector, showed him the brochures (this was before they had a tso, by the way) and he said he thought it was the best thing he'd field approved in his career.

You can find them at http://www.safeair1.com

Mike