Ladakh Trip – A Pilots Perspective

I have recently been on a trip recently to Ladakh with my school friends. Leh, the capital of Ladakh region is located at a very high altitude – 11000 ft above mean sea level. Please check my earlier blog “The Adventure trip of Ladakh” on our fun activities. Now what is it for Pilots that I am writing this blog? The very fact that it is located at 11000 ft AMSL should raise eyebrows .

At Leh Airport

Now coming to the trip, since I did not Pilot myself there – I cannot write anything about the performance aspects of the aircraft nor offer any tips or tricks on Piloting to this challenging airport of Leh. So what do I have to offer?

Some TextBook Theory to start with.

Hypoxia – “Hypoxia is a state of oxygen deficiency in the body sufficient to impair functions of the brain and other organs. Because of the nature of flight, flight crews are much more likely to suffer from hypoxia than “normal” people. Knowing what to look for and how to react to resolve the situation is essential to maintain flight safety.”  [Source: Skybrary]

Time to useful consciousness table

[Image Source: Skybrary]

Hypoxia  signs include increased rate and depth of breathing, tachycardia, cyanosis (blue coloured lips and nails), mental confusion, anger, euphoria, poor judgment, loss of muscle coordination, slouching and loss of consciousness. [Source: Skybrary]

How many like me have read the above in books and memorized the numbers by rote? 🙋

Now, Let’s see the Human Factors in action.

For the purpose of this blog – Please treat me and my friends as mere test subjects rather than someone who is an expert or being shown in poor light.

The day we landed in Leh, almost all of us had some symptom of hypoxia or the other – most notably Headache, tiredness and bloating sensation of the tummy. I personally had a headache.

We had medical check in the evening and almost all had elevated levels of blood pressure and lower content of Oxygen in our body with varying heart rates. BP of upto 150 systolic was considered normal at that altitude.

Some walking on the day2 of our trip was tiring for many but it did help us adapt to the conditions well. Our BP, Oxygen levels and heart rates were now normalizing.

On Day3, it was all good until we did water rafting. It was an intense exercise which had some people gasping. I too had some breathing difficulty for few minutes after the rafting experience.

On Day4, Couple of them including me reported having a bleeding nose/nostrils early in the morning – probably because of the exertion of rafting the previous day. Thankfully it was not severe for any of us. However, during our trip to Nubra Valley via Khardungla Pass which is the highest motorable road at 18000ft, almost all of us were struggling. One of my friend was panting and at Khardungla pass, he vomited and was feeling unwell. The Oxygen level in his blood dropped down to 48% and had to be put immediately on Oxygen. He was few seconds away from passing out! Many had bloating sensation of the tummy. We went out to take images but struggled, we found it difficult to go to the nearby coffee shop. We were advised to remain no longer than 10 minutes at the Khardungla pass and we realized it why – the hard way! 

Here I realized the importance of Time of Useful consciousness concept!

Day 5 and Day 6 were a breeze. The only thing on Day6 was the Changla Pass at similar altitude of 18000 ft but this time due to the acclimatization over the days and proper use of the drug diamox, we could carry ourselves through!

Day 7 was significant as we friends almost all being city riders embarked on a tough but achievable mountain biking trip to Kargil on NH1 a relatively safer road to ride on. Our communication was good in the beginning but once the setback of a vehicle tyre puncture occurred, things started to take a down turn. People did not look clearly in the rear view mirrors for the other riders etc – things were not smooth. After a late lunch almost around 1400 Hrs, we started on the tougher mountainous part of the ride. We being relatively amateur riders of the terrain, treaded cautiously. This led to us riding in the chill which starts after 1600Hrs in that region. Because of the chill and our poor biking gear – btw we just wore arm and knee caps on our regular jeans and jackets, we were all suffering from chills. We kept taking breaks and that added to more time to our journey. We kept continuing in the dark hoping to reach the destination soon. Though the distance was less, it was taking lot of time due to the mountainous roads. We kept pushing and pushing and finally reached our destination at 2000 Hrs safely!

The terrain and roads of NH1 between Kargil and Leh

 

Day8, We started out by getting our bikes checked for tyre pressures. One bike had a nut missing for which we tried to get a replacement which went in vain. We were split in our thinking about refueling our bikes at the start. Finally, it was agreed that we would refuel the bike enroute as soon as it hits the reserve tank. The day biking started smoothly and quarter of a way two bikes developed some breaking issues. One bike exhausted its fuel midway – the driver of the bike left it on reserve tank all the way so he did not have an indication when it hit the reserve tank! Ironically, that rider was the one who proposed the solution of refueling when on reserve. Thankfully it was not far from a fuelling station – so we could refuel and continue our journey. Many riders keeping the previous days uncomfortable night riding in chilly conditions kept pushing to reach back Leh. So - Not all bikes were riding together. However, we all reached our destination back safely and thanked our stars for completing the trip safely!

Now, Let me interpret the Human Factors which were in play during Day7 and Day8:

• ·         Poor Communication
• ·         Complacency
• ·         Lack of team work
• ·         Distraction
• ·         Stress/Pressure/Fatigue
• ·         Lack of resources/Knowledge/assertiveness 

Almost all the factors known to disrupt aviation safety were in play. 

Except one, none of us were aware of the terrain/road. We blindly accepted the challenge of biking in Ladakh which was popular “must do” with all adventure seekers. Though few were not inclined on it, they did not assertively push their opinion or to put it in other way, they fell on deaf ears.

Surely given poor mobile network connectivity it added to us not communicating well once we were halfway from our journey commencement. We started very well with proper briefing. However once there was the setback of tyre puncture(Distraction), the communication took a hit. Not looking at rear view mirrors, not looking behind for the next rider let to us not going in an orderly fashion.

Our Bikes and Our Biking gear

During the journey when it was becoming dark, we just pushed on despite the chilly weather. We were not dressed properly ie. We did not wear biking suits – we just put on the arm and knee guards on our jeans and jackets and started off. This lead to a very serious situation. The gear we were wearing was not reflective enough for night riding. Next, we were riding in chilly weather and none were comfortable with it. To add to that we were almost tired(Fatigue). We all exhibited the classic “Get There Itis” or we were trying to reach the destination rather than halting when we were uncomfortable (Destination Obsession). All these almost aligned to form a huge issue for us. But thankfully we survived without any incident.

 

The ride back to Leh started with a poor choice of not refueling for the trip. However, since it was a road journey with many refueling points, we managed – But nevertheless a poor decision which included complacency. Also on the return journey few riders rushing back to Leh trying to avoid the situation like the previous day. This lead to a disarray of few bikes going ahead without being closely knit together (Lack of Team work).

Given the above examples – Did they just happen by explicit choice? Do me and my friends have to be blamed for so many mistakes? Hypoxia led to much of poor decision making. Thus, I choose to present this as a working case study to understand Hypoxia.

All pilots must understand these phenomena very well – not just read and mug up the topic for exam. Here, we had the luxury of familiarization to the high altitude environment. In real life for Pilot, there is no such advantage of acclimatization – Hence the importance. Hope it helps the readers.   

Happy Landings!

Special Credits:

I would like to once again thank the officers of Indian Army who gave us wonderful advice on how to accustom to the high altitude and cope with the conditions better. After going through the trip, all our friends became extremely appreciative of the brave deeds and tough conditions being endured by the soldiers at extremely high altitudes and brutal weather conditions. A big Salute!

Other Credits:

Most theory has been taken from Skybrary an online wiki. It requires publication of the source. [Source: www.skybrary.aero]