Poor communication between the captain; the first officer (reporter); and the passengers aboard a co...

Attributes
ACN	1068362
Time
Date	201212
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZAB.ARTCC
State Reference	NM
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Caravan 208B
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Oxygen System/General
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 160 Flight Crew Total 650 Flight Crew Type 400
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

On our return flight the captain filed an IFR flight plan. Before the flight the captain gave no briefing; but merely said we were going a little high; and directed me to brief the passengers. I didn't know how high we were going so I just prepared the masks and briefed the passengers on how to use them and when; but none agreed to use them. After we departed the captain told me he filed for 14;000 ft and we went on oxygen passing 10;000 ft. Once we reached cruise altitude I did ask the passengers to put the oxygen masks on but; again; no one did so. We later asked center for higher due to clouds at our altitude and we did pickup a lot of ice at 16;000 ft MSL around 50 NM from our destination. Later; center asked us to go higher for traffic and at some point; we were at 19;000 ft [FL190] for about 13 minutes; then we got cleared for lower. At all times we did ask the passengers to use oxygen masks [but none did so]. After we landed we asked everyone how they felt and no one complained or commented. I believe what caused the problem was there was no communication with the captain (who is new) and I didn't confirm what he meant by 'going high' so I could prepare the oxygen masks and place them in each seatback pocket for easy access by the passengers. The masks are normally stored in the front seat area in a plastic bag.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Poor communication between the Captain; the First Officer (reporter); and the passengers aboard a commercial C208B resulted in the passengers not donning provided oxygen masks despite operating at altitudes as high as FL190 due to weather.

Narrative: On our return flight the Captain filed an IFR flight plan. Before the flight the Captain gave no briefing; but merely said we were going a little high; and directed me to brief the passengers. I didn't know how high we were going so I just prepared the masks and briefed the passengers on how to use them and when; but none agreed to use them. After we departed the Captain told me he filed for 14;000 FT and we went on oxygen passing 10;000 FT. Once we reached cruise altitude I did ask the passengers to put the oxygen masks on but; again; no one did so. We later asked Center for higher due to clouds at our altitude and we did pickup a lot of ice at 16;000 FT MSL around 50 NM from our destination. Later; Center asked us to go higher for traffic and at some point; we were at 19;000 FT [FL190] for about 13 minutes; then we got cleared for lower. At all times we did ask the passengers to use oxygen masks [but none did so]. After we landed we asked everyone how they felt and no one complained or commented. I believe what caused the problem was there was no communication with the Captain (who is new) and I didn't confirm what he meant by 'going high' so I could prepare the oxygen masks and place them in each seatback pocket for easy access by the passengers. The masks are normally stored in the front seat area in a plastic bag.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Poor communication between the captain; the first officer (reporter); and the passengers aboard a commercial C208B resulted in the passengers not donning provided oxygen masks despite operating at altitudes as high as FL190 due to weather.