Carbon monoxide poisoning has led to fatal aircraft accidents in the past and is a recognised serious risk to flight safety if not identified by the flight crew and acted on promptly.
Following consultation with affected owners and operators, the Isle of Man Civil Aviation Administration (IOM CAA) has issued a Safety Directive mandating, from 1 January 2025, the carriage of an active carbon monoxide detector for flights of piston engine aircraft registered in the Isle of Man.
The Safety Directive applies to all flights regardless of who is being carried but excludes:
- aircraft with piston engines located above/behind the cabin (e.g. helicopters, gyroplanes) unless cabin heat is also provided via an exhaust heat exchanger or a combustion heater; or
- aircraft with only wing-mounted piston engines;
- flights conducted in accordance with either: the permission of the IOM CAA; or, an approved Minimum Equipment List listed on the aircraft’s operations specification.
The Safety Directive also requires operators to now take actions necessary to ensure compliance with the CO detector carriage requirement by 1 January 2025.
The active CO detector may be either installed or portable. The IOM CAA recognises both aviation standard and commercial off the shelf active CO detectors as being acceptable as meeting the Directive.
The IOM CAA has provided supporting guidance with the Directive which includes: the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning; types of detector; pre-flight actions; and how to respond to CO alerts.
The link directly to the document is: www.gov.im/media/1386239/2024-085-co-safety-direction.pdf
