Instructive story of one high-altitude flight: decompression sickness in an aircraft crew and its consequences

Abstract

The article is devoted to a retrospective analysis of the medical aspects of the cause and consequences of high-altitude decompression sickness in the crew of a Su-24M aircraft, which arose in conditions of a forced long flight in a depressurized cabin at high altitude. We studied the documentary evidence of the direct participants and witnesses of the aviation event, the data of the technical analysis of the cause of the failure of the life support system of aircraft and the clinical examination materials of the pilot. The deficiencies in the instructions to the crew and aviation medicine specialists in diagnosing and assisting with the threat of this pathology, which caused the pilot to develop a severe form of altitude decompression sickness, were identified. Formulated recommendations for the prevention of this disease and its consequences, applicable in conditions of combat aviation units in modern conditions.