Originally Posted by
dtsm
Bad news from another forum:
Don't bother trying to fly overseas on Continental Airlines using your CPAP machine on board. Their customer service informed me that my AEIOMed Everest 3 CPAP machine with integrated battery cannot be used on the plane, since the machine "has not undergone RTCA Document (DO)-160 testing. This test would be performed by the manufacturer and would report if a device has
or has not been found to exceed the maximum level of radiated radio frequency interference in all modes of operation." Upon contacting AEIOMed, I was informed that they would not conduct such a test due to the expense. Additionally, you are not allowed to plug any CPAP machine into the on board AC power even in Business/First class...so if you fly Continental on long business flights like me, you are out of luck in the sleep department. It looks like Delta Airlines has the same policy.
This is really stupid. I ran into something similar too, with a different flavour. The manufacturer calimed that their unit met the emission standards while NW claimed they had nothing on file for that unit. Further digging revealed that an earlier version of basically the same unit met the standards, because of which the manufacturer claimed that the new and improved unit would too. It is indeed expensive to perform a laboratory tests and compile results of the tests. Manufacturers are willing to go through the expense of testing if the payback is big, for example equipment that goes on military platforms such as ships submarines and aircraft. I don't know what the emission limits are. But we do know that these units consume power in the range of hundred watts. As I said, I don;t know what the standards are, and how they are specified. Typically radiated power at one meter from the source is used in many applications. Two motors consuming the similar power will have similar total radiated power. But you cannot make them understand. I have tried. If Model A meets the standards and model B is similar, model B should be OK too. But no luck.
I see only three possible solutions: Making the Govt to recognise the need for allowing use of CPAP on board so that
- The Government forces the manufacturer to provide some models that have undergone tested and that all models be clearly labelled if they meet emission standards
- Govt bearing the cost of testing.
- Forcing the airlines to maintain a list of units that meet emission standards. If a manufacturer provides test results, the airline should either accept them or condcut its own tests to confirm or disprove manufacturer's claims.