Canadian researchers say they have debunked the long-held belief that facial hair interferes with the seal on pilot oxygen masks and at least one airline has lifted its decades-old beard ban. Air Canada, which commissioned the Simon Fraser University (Vancouver) study, says its pilots can now sport beards "to a maximum length of 12.5 millimeters (half an inch) and neatly trimmed." The airline hasn't said exactly why it paid the Environmental Medicine and Physiology Unit at SFU to test the beard hypothesis in its hyperbaric chamber but the facility's director was unequivocal about the results. "The (no-beard) policy was based on outdated research on obsolete equipment and testing on respirators not intended for aircrew oxygen delivery," said Sherri Ferguson. "We found no adverse effects on bearded subjects within the two parameters of our study."
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/recent-updates/business-military/pilot-beard-ban-debunked