A md-11 crew experienced asphyxia during an extended predeparture de-icing with both packs off; the ...

Narrative:

Upon arrival at the aircraft we needed to be de-iced but had heavy snow delaying de-icing. The aircraft was loaded somewhat late and had dry ice loaded on board in the amount of 14;000 pounds. Shortly after arriving at the aircraft we received the normal ACARS alert to keep air conditioning on which was already being complied with. At about mid morning the heavy snow went from heavy to moderate allowing us to launch. A short time later the deice team asked us to prepare aircraft for deicing to get a start with type 1. We then ran the checklist for deicing and the packs were turned off. It was taking an unusually long time to deice due to one of the trucks breaking down and [being] replaced; the de-icing took about 1 hour when all was said and done. I started to develop symptoms of shortness of breath about 30 minutes into the deicing process. I did not verbalize any of my symptoms because I thought it was just me either being tired or fatigued. About 45 minutes after the start of de-icing the mechanic asked if we could close the outflow valve to prevent spray ingestion; which we did as air conditioning was still packs off. De-icing was completed about one hour after it was commenced and we started engine 3. At this time the captain noticed I was having difficulty breathing and asked if I was ok. I responded abnormally so the captain turned to the jumpseater to ask if he was ok and he was on oxygen and said no. It was at that time that the captain made the decision to shut down the aircraft and quickly opened the windows and cabin doors and told maintenance something was up and told him to get steps up to the aircraft while fresh air came in from the open windows and doors. I started to feel better almost immediately after the windows were opened and we all started feeling better quickly. It took about 3 minutes for steps and we were outside and a manager was there to take us to a medical center for check ups; diagnosed with asphyxia.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD-11 crew experienced asphyxia during an extended predeparture de-icing with both packs OFF; the outflow valve closed and 14;000 LBS of dry ice on board.

Narrative: Upon arrival at the aircraft we needed to be de-iced but had heavy snow delaying de-icing. The aircraft was loaded somewhat late and had dry ice loaded on board in the amount of 14;000 LBS. Shortly after arriving at the aircraft we received the normal ACARS alert to keep air conditioning on which was already being complied with. At about mid morning the heavy snow went from heavy to moderate allowing us to launch. A short time later the deice team asked us to prepare aircraft for deicing to get a start with Type 1. We then ran the checklist for deicing and the packs were turned off. It was taking an unusually long time to deice due to one of the trucks breaking down and [being] replaced; the de-icing took about 1 hour when all was said and done. I started to develop symptoms of shortness of breath about 30 minutes into the deicing process. I did not verbalize any of my symptoms because I thought it was just me either being tired or fatigued. About 45 minutes after the start of de-icing the Mechanic asked if we could close the outflow valve to prevent spray ingestion; which we did as air conditioning was still packs off. De-icing was completed about one hour after it was commenced and we started engine 3. At this time the Captain noticed I was having difficulty breathing and asked if I was OK. I responded abnormally so the Captain turned to the jumpseater to ask if he was OK and he was on oxygen and said no. It was at that time that the Captain made the decision to shut down the aircraft and quickly opened the windows and cabin doors and told Maintenance something was up and told him to get steps up to the aircraft while fresh air came in from the open windows and doors. I started to feel better almost immediately after the windows were opened and we all started feeling better quickly. It took about 3 minutes for steps and we were outside and a Manager was there to take us to a Medical Center for check ups; diagnosed with asphyxia.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1135070
Time
Date	201312
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-11
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 45 Flight Crew Total 11500 Flight Crew Type 6000
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 110 Flight Crew Total 20150 Flight Crew Type 90
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

A md-11 crew experienced asphyxia during an extended predeparture de-icing with both packs off; the outflow valve closed and 14;000 pounds of dry ice on board.