PLT097: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
What code PLT097 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Carbon Monoxide Poisoning before your checkride.
Recall aeromedical factors - effects of carbon monoxide poisoning
What this means for your checkride
Carbon monoxide poisoning comes from exhaust gas leaking into the cabin, often through a cracked heater shroud. CO binds to hemoglobin far more readily than oxygen does, so the blood cannot carry oxygen even though you are breathing normally. Early signs are headache, drowsiness, and dizziness.
CO is odorless and its symptoms mimic fatigue, so the FAA tests whether you recognize the source, the symptoms, and the correct response of shutting off the heater and getting fresh air.
Pilots assume they would smell it. Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless; the warning is the smell of exhaust and the onset of headache, so a CO detector and prompt action matter more than your nose.
Where to study it
Practice questions on this code
Real questions from the Aviator IQ bank that test this exact area. Answer each to see the correct choice, the full rationale, and the FAA source.
Carbon monoxide impairs a pilot by attaching to hemoglobin and blocking oxygen transport in the blood. Which type of hypoxia does carbon monoxide poisoning produce?
During cruise a pilot detects a strong odor of exhaust gases along with a headache and drowsiness and suspects carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking exhaust system. What is the correct immediate action?
Oral checkride defense
A code on your report is an area the examiner can revisit. Here is how an examiner might probe it, and how to explain it out loud.
You smell exhaust and feel a headache in cruise. What is happening and what do you do?
I suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, likely from a cracked exhaust or heater shroud. I turn off the cabin heater, open fresh air vents and windows, use supplemental oxygen if available, and land as soon as practical. CO binds to hemoglobin and starves the body of oxygen.
Why is CO so dangerous, and how can you detect it?
It is colorless and odorless and produces hypemic hypoxia by blocking oxygen transport, so headache and drowsiness sneak up on you. A CO detector card and staying alert to any exhaust smell, especially with the heater on, are the practical defenses.
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.