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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1979

Field and laboratory studies of moving and temporally variable noise sources (aircraft); perception of location, movement, and direction.

The conditions were examined under which more valid and reliable estimates could be made of the effects of aircraft noise on people. In Exper. 1, 12 Ss in 2 different houses directly under the flight path of a major airport (JFK) indicated 1 of 12 possible flight paths (4 directly overhead and 8 to one side) for each of 3 jet aircraft flyovers: 3% of cases in House A and 56% in House B (which had open windows) were correctly identified. Despite judgment inaccuracy, Ss were more than moderately certain of the correctness of their judgments. In Exper. II. Ss either inside or outside of 2 houses in Wallops Station, Virginia, indicated on diagrams the direction of flyovers. Each of 4 aircraft (Boeing 737, C-54, UE-1 helicopter, Queenaire) made 8 flyovers directly over the houses and 8 to one side. Windows were either open or closed. All flyovers and conditions were counterbalanced. All sound sources under all conditions were usually judged to be overhead and moving, but for Ss indoors with windows closed the to-the-side flyovers were judged to be off to the side in 24% of cases. Outdoor Ss reported correct direction in 75% of cases while indoor Ss were correct in only 25% (windows open) or 18% (windows closed). Judgments "to the side" were significantly better (p = less than .02) with windows open vs closed, while with windows closed judgments were significantly better (p = less than .05) for flyovers overhead vs to the side. In Exper. III, Ss localized in azimuth and in the vertical plane recorded noises (10 1-oct noise bands of CF = 28.12 c/s - 14.4kc/s, spoken voice, and jet aircraft takeoffs and landings), presented through 1, 2, or 4 floor-level loudspeakers at each corner of a simulated living room (4.2 x 5.4m)built inside an IAC soundproof room. Aircraft noises presented by 4 loudspeakers were localized as "directly" overhead 80% of the time and "generally overhead" about 90% of the time; other sounds were so localized about 50% and 75% of the time respectively. Through only 2 loudspeakers, aircraft noises were localized 25-36 degrees above horizontal. Implications are that acoustic realism can be achieved in simulated aircraft overflights and that future laboratory noise-effects research should incorporate the required conditions.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Survey on eye comfort in aircraft: I. Flight attendants.

Extensive research in aviation medicine has been devoted to various aspects of vision, but there has been little attention to the eye problems of flight attendants. Flight attendants, especially contact lens wearers, have complained about eye discomfort in aircraft. The purpose of this study was to evaluate some of the conditions in aircraft that might influence their eye comfort. A questionnaire on eye comfort was developed in conjunction with the Air Safety Department of the Association of Flight Attendants and distributed through its Flightlog magazine. Of the 774 respondents, 95% reported some eye discomfort in aircraft. It is significant that both those who did and who did wear contact lenses reported similar eye problems. The most common eye problems reported were conjunctival redness and dried eyes. Smoking was indicated by the respondents to be the most noticeable factor causing eye symptoms. Aircraft cabin conditions are discussed, including relative humidity, atmospheric oxygen, and ozone concentration. Since air passengers are exposed to the same aircraft conditions as the attendants, they probably would manifest similar eye problems.

Aerospace Medicine↗

PubMed1977

Characteristics in the atmosphere of long-range transport aircraft cabins.

In the long run, the fatigue in aircrews performing frequent, long-range flights is linked to factors connected to the aircraft, such as noise, temperature, cabin pressure, atmosphere quality, and flight characteristics. These are the factors inherent to the aircraft which we have investigated during six long-range flights without time zone changes in DC-8 and DC-10 aircraft of the U.T.A. Cie. The results show that none of the pollutants researched reach doses considered hazardous by FAR 25 or by French legislation. This fact is due to the effective ventilation in the cabins. In flight, thermal comfort is limited by a too-low hygrometry RH = 12%. Even in a modern aircraft, the noise level remains high, but acoustical energy is spread over the less detrimental frequencies.

Air Pollutants↗

PubMed1978

Visual detection of commencement of aircraft takeoff runs.

Among other things, airport control towers should be sited so that controllers can readily detect whether an aircraft cleared for takeoff has commenced its takeoff run. The detection of movement is not well enough understood to enable confident prediction that a particular site for a tower will enable commencement of takeoff run to be easily observed. A field study was undertaken to establish detection times for commencement of takeoff run by groups of trained and trainee air traffic controllers and untrained observers. It was found that the mean response of observers occurs when the aircraft is displaced about 5' of arc, a value essentially independent of observer experience, observation distance, aircraft velocity, and the clarity with which the aircraft can be seen. Binoculars reduce the mean response time and response variability, although not as much as might be expected. Domains within which control towers can be located to enable detection of takeoff runs within 2 s and 4 s are defined.

Aerospace Medicine↗

PubMed1977

Joint Committee on Aviation Pathology: XV. Medical investigation of fatalities from aircraft-accident burns.

Burn deaths of medicolegal importance are of two main types: those in which the circumstances suggest that the fire was used to commit or conceal a homicide or suicide, and those that involve the public interest or safety, such as an aircraft accident fire. The great majority of fire deaths are accidental, but it would be foolish for anyone, particularly an aircraft accident investigator, to assume anything about a death associated with an aircraft fire. This paper will discuss the medical investigation of fatalities from aircraft-accident burns.

Accidents, Aviation↗

PubMed1979

Oculogravic illusion in response to straight-ahead acceleration of CF-104 aircraft.

Experimental subjects wore goggles that restricted monocular vision to a luminous line fixed relative to the head, and they were exposed on one occasion to a straight-ahead acceleration of an aircraft and on another occasion to a tilting chair. The magnitude of change of direction of the resultant accleration was the same on both occasions, but the perceived movement of the luminous line from the two stimuli was very different. In response to the aircraft stimulus, the oculogravic illusion was experienced and the luminous line was perceived as tilting relative to the subject, in response to the tilting chair stimulus, the line was perceived as remaining fixed relative to the subject. It was concluded that the oculogravic illusion, as experienced in the aircraft (and previously in centrifuges), is a true illusion and not merely a fact of physics.

Acceleration↗

PubMed1978

Validation of the CALSPAN gross-motion-simulation code with actually occurring injury patterns in aircraft accidents.

Digital simulation of aircraft-accident kinematics has heretofore been used almost exclusively as a design tool to explore structural load limits, precalculate decelerative forces at various cabin stations, and describe the effect of protective devices in the crash environment. In an effort to determine the value of digital computer simulation of fatal aircraft accidents, a fatality involving an ejection-system failure (out-of-envelope ejection) was modeled, and the injuries actually incurred were compared to those predicted; good agreement was found. The simulation of fatal aircraft accidents is advantageous because of a well-defined endpoint (death), lack of therapeutic intervention, and a static anatomic situation that can be minutely investigated. Such simulation techniques are a useful tool in the study of experimental trauma.

Accidents, Aviation↗

PubMed1977

Arousal from sleep: the physiological and subjective effects of a 15 dB(A) reduction in aircraft flyover noise.

The present research was concerned with whether or not a 15 dB(A) reduction in overall noise level would lessen the sleep disturbing properties of jet aircraft flyover noise and, if less disturbing, whether this would be subjectively appreciated by the sleeping individual. The results indicate that a reduction of 15 dB(A) does result in less sleep disruption but only during sleep characterized by fast-wave electroencephalographic activity. During sleep characterized by slow-wave electroencephalographic activity, such a reduction in the sleep-disturbing properties of jet aircraft noise has little effect. Moreover, even when effective during fast-wave sleep, the decreased arousal produced by the lower noise levels is not subjectively appreciated by the individual in terms of his estimate of the quality of his night's sleep. Thus, reducing the overall noise level of jet aircraft flyovers by some 15 dB(A), is, at best, minimally beneficial to sleep.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1977

Joint Committee on Aviation Pathology: IX. Laboratory examination of unidentified suspected tissue fragments found at aircraft sites.

The identification of victims of an aircraft accident may be very difficult because of the degree of fragmentation associated with the accident. Periodically, the Divisions of Aerospace Pathology and Toxicology have been asked to identify tissue, bone, or bloodstains of undetermined origin. Usually this request has been precipitated by situations in which a) it is questionable whether an aircraft has sustained a bird strike, b) unidentified pieces of tissue are found floating at sea, or c) fragments of bone, tissue, or blood-stained flight apparel are found near a crash site. Preliminary studies have shown that gross examination and the methods and procedures used in forensic serology may also be applied in aircraft investigation with very good results. These methods are used as an aid to confirm the identity of the victims involved.

Accidents, Aviation↗

PubMed1979

Survey on eye comfort in aircraft: II. Use of ophthalmic solutions.

Flight attendants frequently use ophthalmic solutions (eye-drops) to relieve their eye discomfort while working in the aircraft. The purpose of this paper is to present some insight concerning the use of ophthalmic solutions by flight attendants. This paper follows Part I, a survey that evaluated some of the environmental conditions in the aircraft that influenced eye comfort. A questionnaire was developed in conjunction with the Air Safety Department of the Association of Flight Attendants. The common eye problem characterized by conjunctival redness and eye irritation occurred with 95% of the 774 respondents. Furthermore, 60% of these respondents indicated that they have used eyedrops while in flight. The majority of the respondents were using an ocular decongestant; however, this author suggests that the use of artificial tears would be more effective in relieving eye discomfort in the aircraft.

Adult↗

PubMed1978

Cholera: possible infection from aircraft effluent.

This paper presents the hypothesis that some cases of cholera might be due to effluent discharge from aircraft. The theoretical case is borne out by inspection of data on the physical conditions pertaining between high altitudes and ground level. A study of the distribution of isolated outbreaks and single cases of disease and their relation to major airline routes showed a reasonable correspondence. Sporadic outbreaks of cholera in Europe between 1970 and 1975 were found to lie within the flight paths of regular airline services from Calcutta, where cholera is endemic, to the Northern Hemisphere. Laboratory studies on the stability of Vibrio cholerae to conditions likely to be encountered in droplets falling from high altitude to the ground suggested that significant numbers of organisms might survive. It should be noted that in this study no account was taken of the effect of ultra-violet light on viability and it is known that at high altitides the ultraviolet light component of solar radiation is much higher than at ground level. Results of experiments where small numbers of organisms were inoculated into relatively poor media showed that rapid growth ensued and that sufficient organisms were produced to give an infective dose of Vibrio cholerae in 1-10 ml/fluid. It could be concluded that human infection could easily occur by ingestion of fluids such as milk or soup which had some time earlier received a fortuitous but slight contamination from the air. Investigation of one disinfectant (chloramine T) showed that it reacted rapidly and in a complex manner with peptone. One effect of this reaction was the elimination of bactericidal activity and it seems likely that, as at present employed, chloramine T is of doubtful value in aeroplane hygiene. One important conclusion that arises from this work is that if cholera can be spread, even only occasionally, by effluent from aircraft then close investigation should be made of the possibility of other bacteria and viruses being spread in a similar way.

Aircraft↗

PubMed1979

Comparison of three studies of aircraft noise and psychiatric hospital admissions conducted in the same area.

Two earlier studies conducted in the vicinity of London (Heathrow) Airport compared the rate of admissions to a psychiatric hospital from areas exposed to different levels of aircraft noise. Their methods and results were not identical. A third study, reported here, examined standardized rates of admission to the same hospital for a longer period and for a larger area divided into 4 bands of aircraft noise. Statistically significant trends of decreasing admission with increasing noise levels were found. Comparisons between the investigations show how the contradictory results are related to the methods used and the accuracy of the data, and that caution should be exercised in formulating conclusions from exploratory research.

Aircraft↗

PubMed1977

Annoyance response to spectrally modified recorded aircraft noise during television-viewing.

Magnitude estimations of the annoyance of 27 individual noise stimuli were made by 24 Ss while viewing television; 8 different spectrum modifications of a basic aircraft noise were introduced at 3 overall intensities. The basic spectrum was that of an untreated commercial jet aircraft takeoff noise; the other 8 were created by removal of one of two amounts of energy from an octave band centerered at either .315, .8, 1.6, or 4 kc/s. An ANOVA showed significant annoyance differences for spectrum modification, overall noise intensity and their interaction. Annoyance reduction was greatest when energy was removed at the octave band centered at 1.6 kc/s, next at .8, and .315, and least at 4 kc/s. Although greater overall intensity reduction yielded progressively less annoyance with various spectrally-modified noises as well as unmodified noise, the spectrum modification was apparently most effective in reducing annoyance when the overall maximum noise intensity ranged from 88.0 to 89.1 dbA, and was least effective from 83.9 to 85.3 dbA. Annoyance reduction resulting from spectrum modification at a single octave band (centered at either .8 or 1.6 kc/s) was equivalent to that resulting from a 2.7 dbA overall intensity reduction. The results are discussed in terms of speech interference as well as intermodal effects of noise during television viewing.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Investigation of exposure to nickel and lung cancer mortality: case control study at aircraft engine factory.

A case-control mortality study was performed at an aircraft engine factory to assess the possible association between exposure to nickel-containing compounds and death from lung cancer. Forty-two non-salaried male workers who died of lung cancer from 1966 to 1976 were identified from a chronological registry of death certificates that has been maintained by the company's medical department. Each of the decedents was matched with the next two non-salaried decedents in the registry who were of the same sex and comparable age (+/- 10 years), and who died of causes other than cancer. Without knowledge of the workmen's identities or causes of death, one of the authors classified the deceased workmen as exposed or non-exposed to nickel compounds during their employment. The proportion of workmen who died of lung cancer and were exposed to nickel (11/42) was found to be equal to the proportion of workmen who died of non-cancerous causes and were exposed to nickel (22/84). This study indicates that workers in an aircraft engine factory who were chronically exposed to low atmospheric concentrations of presumably weakly carcinogenic nickel compounds did not have any apparent increase in the relative risk of mortality from lung cancer prior to treatment.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1977

Heat stress in an aircraft cockpit during ground standby.

Measurements have been made of cockpit temperatures in a Buccaneer aircraft exposed to high air temperatures and radiation loads. With the canopy open 8 cm, and with the wind direction unfavourable for convective cooling, air temperatures inside the cockpit exceeded those outside by approximately 20 degrees C. This reduced to 10 degrees C with a favourable wind direction. An assessment of the likely heating effect of cockpit avionic equipment indicated that the addition of 1 kW and 2 kW of heat would raise cockpit temperatures by 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C respectively. Prediction of the combined effect of solar and avionic heat suggests that, in hot weather conditions, cockpit temperatures will be considerably in excess of the upper limit for effective physiological temperature regulation. Therefore, if aircrews are to be required to remain on ground standby within their aircraft under such conditions, maximum use must be made of convective cooling of the cockpit by the prevailing wind, and of sun shades to eliminate the greenhouse effect completely.

Aerospace Medicine↗

PubMed1977

Stress responses of pilots flying high-performance aircraft during aerial combat maneuvers.

In aerial combat maneuvers (ACMs), at Luke AFB, Az, eight pilots flew their two F-15 aircraft against nine pilots in three F-106 aircraft. A total of nine flights, consisting of 23 ACMs, were accomplished in 5 successive days. The degrees of fatigue, stress, and sympathetic activity were quantified using both subjective analyses and the biochemical constituents in the urine of the pilots of the F-15 or F-106. Biochemical indicators, reported per 100 mg creatinine, included: epinephrine, norepinephrine, 17-OHCS, urea, inorganic phosphate, sodium, potassium, and sodium/potassium ratio. The F-106 pilots exerted more relative effort than did the F-15 pilots--effort which appeared to be associated with high-G experience. Both groups of pilots were equally fatigued following ACMs; however, only the fatigue of the F-106 pilots was directly correlated with the length of the ACM. Sympathetic and stress responses during the ACM--similar for both groups of pilots--showed postflight increases of 54% in epinephrine, 19% in norepinephrine, and 20% in 17-OHCS over preflight values, thus suggesting a moderate stress response. Resting levels of these same indicators, for days the pilots did not fly and for pre-ACM values, were similar but higher than control values previously reported for other stressful activities. By late afternoon, postflight values for these indicators had returned to near-preflight levels.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Inefficiency of sanitation measures aboard commercial aircraft: environmental pollution and disease.

Recent investigations at Tokyo International Airport have proven that environmental pollution resulting from the inefficient disposal of human excretion aboard aircraft is an important problem from the standpoint of quarantine. It is, therefore, recommended that the worldwide aviation industry take immediate measures to improve conditions and eliminate this problem, which has thus far been ignored by aircraft designers, airport administration, and CAB personnel.

Aerospace Medicine↗

PubMed1977

Suicide by aircraft: a case report.

A 36-year-old pilot took his plane on a brief, unauthorized flight that ended in a high-speed vertical crash next to the runway. A retrospective "psychological autopsy" yielded strong presumptive evidence of an unrecognized depression in a man with manipulative and mildly antisocial characteristics. His withdrawal from his usual patterns of behavior was, instead, regarded as a desirable return to "normal" behavior. This case report includes comments on the role of the psychological autopsy in aircraft accident investigation, anniversary reactions, the use of psychiatric diagnosis to support the agreed-upon decision on the desired disposition, some aspects of subintentional suicidal behavior, a brief review of the literature on suicide by aircraft, and consideration of the role of the flight surgeon in preventing such occurrences through early recognition of depression.

Adult↗