Unpressurized airplanes
 

Hi, I am due to travel to Tonga next month and have to take an internal flight on either a Harbin Y12 Mark II plane (15 seater) or a Bandeirante EMB 110 (17 seater) with Fiji Airlines - Nuku'alofa to Vava'u. The problem is I will be 23 weeks pregnant and have been told I shouldn't fly in an unpressurized airplane. Does anyone know if the above two planes are pressurized or not?

Thanks for any replies

According to the FAA the Embraer 110 is pressurized. I couldn't find a definite answer on the Y12, but it's service ceiling is 22000 ft which means everybody would be dead if it weren't.

Don;t take any chances with your baby, if you don't know.

Any non-pressurized aircraft will stay at low altitudes. The air pressure in the plane will be no lower than you'd experience walking around Vail, Colorado, or any number of other mountain towns - not all that much different from Denver. I don't recall anybody advising Denver women, or even Vail women, to move to the lowlands until they deliver.

I'd at least check with another doctor.

(BTW, an aircraft's service ceiling is a technical function of its engines, wing area and things like that. Whether or not it's pressurized is based on a whole different set of considerations. Nothing says it has to fly anywhere near its service ceiling, and there are such things as oxygen supplies for the crew if they have to fly a non-pressurized aircraft over mountains.)

Unpressurized aircraft (without O2 for pax) can fly up to 15,000ft in North America. That is higher than Vail.

True statement about the service ceiling.

No it's not. No point in CO (or any state other than Alaska) is 15000 ft above sea level.

Did your Doctor tell you this? Or was it folklore? Just seems strange from a physiology standpoint. I cant imagine what stresses this might place on your unborn more than normal. Your baby is pretty safe inside your uterus when its said and done and I find the worse curse of unpressurised aircraft is the noise, much more than a supposed O2 scarcity! If it were unsafe in the slightest, the airlines would also have to have up signs about it etc etc. And we'd have heart attacks, asthmatic attacks, miscarriages galore as well as just normal folk keeling over all the time. Cheers.

Ge76 shouldn't worry. The cabin pressure during cruise on normal airliners is equivalent to 8000ft. That's about the altitude that the E-110 (and I assume Y-12) will cruise at, especially for a short 198 mile flight. You could even ask the pilot to keep the altitude low as a favor to you. :) In any case the flight will stay below 10,000ft; AFAIK that's required for unpressurized passenger aircraft (at least in the US).

Plenty of people living at 8000ft or higher bring babies to term without problems. Plenty of people fly while pregnant with no ill effects. The flights on the unpressurized aircraft should be no different, though they might be more fun in your case.

You can see the flight paths (including altitude) of some E110 flights here: http://flightaware.com/live/aircrafttype/E110

More important: Other considerations
 

I fly a turbo 182 which is not pressurized and the service ceiling is 20,000'. The above post about service ceiling is correct.

As are the comments that in pressurized aircraft the cabin altitude (the pressurization system does not pressurize to sea level pressure)--generally, cabin altitudes are at or below 8,000'. Think Colorado ski resort altitudes.

My wife is currently pregnant and we asked our doctor about flying. The issue of flying unpressurized is not about oxygen content provided the pilot is complying with FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations). The issue is about rates of change.

The standard climb and descent rate for cabin pressurizations is 500'/min. The real rates of climb and descent in pressurized aircraft are much, much higher (as much as 1000-3000 ft/min, depending on the aircraft). This lower rate is tolerable by most all individuals (except allergy suffers and crying babies, hence the crying). Cabin altitude changes (or real altitude changes in a non-pressurized aircraft) exceeding those rates could distress or damage the integrity of the amniotic sack (the bag of tissue containing the fluid your baby is swimming in).

Therefore, our doctor limits our flights to a 500 ft/min max rate (we currentlyt have a low-risk pregnancy). Most pilots flying a non-pilot passenger would limit their climbs and descents to this (500 ft/min) anyway for general comfort. Something about unexpected wild rides don't encourage repeat passengers.

Obviously, if you have experienced altitude sickness before, you may want to reconsider your travel plans.

Additionally, I am not a doctor, and my doctor is not a pilot, but you may want to ask him/her about climb rates, etc, not just altitude.