Hypoxia and Medicine - Blind pilot rescued by RAF?

Blind pilot rescued by RAF?

Brilliant rescue, being a PPL myself, but, on the news, it said that the 152 was flying at 15,000 feet when it happened. FIFTEEN THOUSAND FEET, in a 152, non-pressurized, over UK??? Has the pilot lost his senses or forgotten his "Human Factors' manual"? You don't fly without oxygen above 10,000'... Is it a mistake of the reporters? And, if not, WHY was he flying soo high (and over low grounds!)? I live in Portugal, with a good wheather, but at 6000', I need the heater on. At 10, I feel the first effects of anoxia and have to concentrate to continue flying. At 15? Never been! Our free fallers at the club drop from 12, and that is their maximum. So, 15? WHY? Rosebud: most likely! At that altitude, the lack of oxygen poses a serious threat to the brain AND the heart! Getting there? 250'/min: 60 minutes. I do not know where he took off, but must have been at least over 100 miles (80 knots is a VERY good climbing speed for a 152!) Helen: Elvington may be long, but it is "out of service" and has no emergency support.

Public Comments

Do you think this could have contributed to the stroke he had. I know nothing about flying and am interested to know
I noticed that too. I presume it's the press being inventive again, but if he WAS at 15,000 it must have taken a huge amount of time to get there. In fact I doubt if any 152 I've ever known would have made it that high. I'm not surprised he was taken ill if that was the case, in fact I'm surprised he's even alive. Nonetheless, as you say, a superb bit of guidance from the Tucano - I'd hope the guys involved get a medal for that.
Whoever told you that is lying. He was at 5500ft when he went blind, not 15000ft haha!
I think they've got this wrong. The Toucano was scrambled from Linton on Ouse and that couldn't have got anywhere near him at that height and in that time scale as at the time he was taken ill he was near Pocklington. The WC then guided him back over York to Linton and after a couple of bounces got him safely down on the third attempt. I wonder why they didn't try at Elvington which has one of the longest runways in europe and wasn't in use on that day?
Typical cock-up by the newspapers probably - they usually manage to get at least one thing wrong in every story