![]() ![]() Unfortunately, there is no straightforward answer to this question. This added altitude and lesser atmospheric pressure could enhance decompression-related effects. In non-commercial aircraft, a pilot may easily hit 10,000 - 16,000 feet in an unpressurized cabin without any oxygen requirements becoming effective. What about flying in small planes?įlying in a small personal or chartered plane may require even more caution since many such aircraft do not have pressurized cabins and will regularly fly higher than 8,000 feet. If your body is already off-gassing at sea level as fast as it can, this sudden decrease in pressure could be enough to trigger symptoms of DCS. On a typical commercial jet, the cabin is pressurized to the equivalent of approximately 8,000 feet, which is still a pressure decrease from sea level of 25 percent. Staying at ground level before going to altitude is essentially like doing a decompression stop. It can cause residual nitrogen in your blood to come out of solution too rapidly, creating large nitrogen bubbles in your blood stream. ![]() If you fly directly after diving, the decreased ambient pressure in the plane has the same effect as ascending too quickly from a dive. As you must know from your scuba certification course, your body needs to have adequate time during an ascent to off-gas excess nitrogen or you can form bubbles in your bloodstream, possibly leading to DCS. The main concern with scuba diving and flying is decompression sickness. Why is it dangerous to fly after scuba diving? What are the safe intervals between flying and scuba diving? Why is it necessary to wait? Do the same rules apply to driving or hiking to high altitudes? We’ll answer these and a few other questions in the article below. D iving and flying are two activities that often overlap, and although nearly all open water courses point up the risks of going to altitude after scuba, divers still have quite a few questions about specific recommendations on the topic. ![]()
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