Smoke Goggles

Smoke goggles do exactly what their name suggests; they protect the crew member's eyes from smoke during an emergency situation.  They look like large ski goggles and provide good visibility in the cockpit.  The following picture is an example of the type from Dassault aircraft.

The goggles are designed to be used with the emergency breathing apparatus available to the pilot.  In an emergency situation involving smoke, the priority for the pilot is to get clean air; all smoke emergency checklists will list the first pilot action as being to don the breathing apparatus and so start using the emergency oxygen.  The second action will be to don smoke goggles to protect the eyes: we all know it stings when smoke gets in your eyes!

 

For those of you who have used any type of goggles before knows how quickly they steam up, especially when you start sweating!  Imagine being in an emergency and finding your goggles steamed up to such an extent that you can't see to land the aircraft!  The manufacturer have thought of this problem and have designed a vent valve into the mask to keep the goggles clear, by directing a stream of pure, dry oxygen into the smoke goggles.  This also has the secondary effect of clearing the goggles of any smoke.  When using smoke goggles with the breathing mask, you need to remember to open the vent valve on the mask to allow the flow of oxygen, and to make sure the smoke goggles are positioned correctly on the mask so the air is directed into them (see below).