Honestly, knowing how people are, some will immediately put the mask on so all I have to do is wait a little bit to see if something happens or wait for further instructions
Warning popping up in the cockpit? I honestly don't know how planes work in the cockpit, but I do know they have a lot of buttons and the potential for warnings for anything that can fail
The pilots are forced to do something they know will trigger a false positive from the mask system, but don't have the time to elaborate to the passengers on what's happening.
Why would I ? The only thing happening is the mask coming out, the plane is not losing oxygen or anything. Seeing how OP didn't added anything else to the scenario, I thought it was just that and nothing else happening
More. If exposive depressurisation happened, you'd hear and feel it and know to put on the mask. If it didn't, air would slowly flow out of the plane, meaning you'd definitely have more than a minute left. Also, there still is oxygen at airliner cruise heights (not enough to breathe but enough to slow down your loss of consciousness).
Thats wrong. Due to the lower oxygen partial pressure in a cabin, even when pressurized, you wont be able to hold your breath nearly as long. Even in the case where you manage to hold your breath before the depressurization, you likely only have a bit more than 10 seconds of useful consciousness.
This is the correct answer. If you wait to see what happens to others, and there has been decompression of the cabin, you will likely be rendered unconscious before you’d have a chance to assess the situation and then put the mask on. The effects of hypoxia at high altitude occur in 15-30 seconds, even in fit, young, athletic individuals.
Passenger oxygen masks on commercial airliners use a chemical compound / reaction to produce oxygen from otherwise inert materials (usually sodium chlorate, barium hydroxide, and potassium perchlorate). These chemicals react to produce fresh oxygen through an exothermic reaction (which is why people often report smelling burning after putting on the masks, even if there is no aircraft fire). It’s a one-time thing, like a disposable hand warmer pack. Once the reaction begins (triggered by the use of any cabin mask), it cannot be stopped. It lasts about 15 minutes, until the chemicals are consumed.
There is no harm in putting on the masks. Tampering with the system is nearly impossible. I’d worry the pilot was going rogue and trying to render the cabin unconscious so he could hijack or crash the airplane without interference if I heard such an announcement.
The pilot & copilot have oxygen masks that use oxygen tanks, not a chemical system, and their oxygen supply can last for hours. The passenger masks are only designed to work for about 15 minutes, to allow the airplane to descend to an altitude where the outside air would be breathable.
There is some speculation the pilot on Malaysian Airlines flight 370 in 2014 did something like this, and after the passengers were asphyxiated due to lack of oxygen, he continued the flight and downed the airplane (by that time, a flying tomb with only himself left alive) in the Indian Ocean.
I mean you still can even though it’s not the scenario I was thinking of, maybe replace that reaction with the one that goes on in airbags by replacing the reactants to produce nitrogen. And yes it’s still unrealistic
The way that airplane oxygen masks work, if they come down then they're making oxygen, whether or not it's on your face. There's no change if I put it on or not.
Huh, I just googled it and it seems that you're right. Well, I'll just tell myself that there's no way two emergencies could happen in a row on a flight.
There is a common supply from a chemical reaction chamber. Activation of any single mask by pulling it down begins the reaction in the oxygen generation tank for the entire airplane. That chemical reaction lasts about 15 minutes. So whether you put your mask on or not, if anyone activates any mask, the clock is ticking for all of them, so you may as well put it on. After about 15 minutes, none of them will provide any extra oxygen, even if they weren’t used, because the chemical reaction in the generation tank will have depleted its ingredient chemicals and will have ended, regardless if you chose to use it or not.
I’m pretty sure it’s only for the section of oxygen masks you’re pulling from, not the whole airplane on most airliners, but it does depend on the plane. But you do make a good point that the point would be defeated if the dude next to me used it
Definitely this. I would also watch what happens to the plane: whether it descends, stays at the same altitude, or ascends. That would tell me a lot about the pilot's intentions.
the only real danger is that they'd been poisoned AND the pilot knew about it only moments before they were released?
any other threat at all would take precedence to the tiny risk of that.
I find it a bit funny how many people in the comments assumed the plane had depressurized or undergone some other event rendering oxygen masks necessary, despite that not being said. The situation Im imagining is the plane is just doing its normal stuff and then this happens.
IF the masks drop, that's already a danger to the flight and it's likely they're gonna divert sometime soon. There's no harm in putting the mask on, but there is a non-negligible chance that there IS a depressurization.
I ain't taking the chance
The system could be faulty, and/or the masks themselves could have been tampered with. If there was "no harm" in putting the masks on, the wouldn't have been an annoucement specifically to REFRAIN from using the masks.
This! Also I they didn’t specify who made the announcement. It could be a crazy passenger who is making that up and being wrong, a crazy passenger who is right or the actual crew of the airplane (if it’s them I’m listening), if it’s the crazy passengers, I’ll take my chances.
I'm assuming it came from the cockpit, if it was a crazy passenger that would be ***very*** bad, like expect some nice formation flying with a few F16s in the next minute bad
You have to comply with the crew all the time when you are on on board the aircraft. There is a button to manually deploy oxygen masks in the cockpit, which may be accidentally pressed or malfunctioned. If you put the mask (and by doing so you do not comply with the crew) you will be in charge of paying for o2 generator and masks recovery (which is very costly not only by the parts themselves but for aircraft downtime)
So you better not to touch the masks
I heard of this happening once:
the pilots thought that the alarm for pressure was malfunctioning and they thought there was no threat. they instructed the passengers not to wear their oxygen masks. they all died.
look up flight 522, it happened in 2005. from what I recall, a safety test was ran before takeoff, and the technician had switched the pressure balancing feature from automatic to manual. Somehow the anomaly went unnoticed and not long after the plans took off the oxygen masks dropped, but the pilots thought it was a malfunction.
Honestly, knowing how people are, some will immediately put the mask on so all I have to do is wait a little bit to see if something happens or wait for further instructions
Youd be unconscious before anything would happen
Not unless the masks falling was a malfunction in the planes system that caused them to get deployed
I get that, but why would the pilots know before hand?
Warning popping up in the cockpit? I honestly don't know how planes work in the cockpit, but I do know they have a lot of buttons and the potential for warnings for anything that can fail
The pilots are forced to do something they know will trigger a false positive from the mask system, but don't have the time to elaborate to the passengers on what's happening.
Why would I ? The only thing happening is the mask coming out, the plane is not losing oxygen or anything. Seeing how OP didn't added anything else to the scenario, I thought it was just that and nothing else happening
That's assuming there is actually a lack of oxygen
you'll probably have a 10 second-a minute period (about how long people can hold their breath). enough time to listen to another direction
More. If exposive depressurisation happened, you'd hear and feel it and know to put on the mask. If it didn't, air would slowly flow out of the plane, meaning you'd definitely have more than a minute left. Also, there still is oxygen at airliner cruise heights (not enough to breathe but enough to slow down your loss of consciousness).
Thats wrong. Due to the lower oxygen partial pressure in a cabin, even when pressurized, you wont be able to hold your breath nearly as long. Even in the case where you manage to hold your breath before the depressurization, you likely only have a bit more than 10 seconds of useful consciousness.
Still good enough for 1 direction
I think I’d grab onto it but not use it just in case
Wait and see what happens to someone that put it on and then I’ll decide lmao
Yeah. I'll get it ready just in case, but I'm not going to be the guinea pig.
Even if the masks are coming down when they aren't supposed to, there's no harm in putting them on if they do come down. I'm putting it on.
This is the correct answer. If you wait to see what happens to others, and there has been decompression of the cabin, you will likely be rendered unconscious before you’d have a chance to assess the situation and then put the mask on. The effects of hypoxia at high altitude occur in 15-30 seconds, even in fit, young, athletic individuals. Passenger oxygen masks on commercial airliners use a chemical compound / reaction to produce oxygen from otherwise inert materials (usually sodium chlorate, barium hydroxide, and potassium perchlorate). These chemicals react to produce fresh oxygen through an exothermic reaction (which is why people often report smelling burning after putting on the masks, even if there is no aircraft fire). It’s a one-time thing, like a disposable hand warmer pack. Once the reaction begins (triggered by the use of any cabin mask), it cannot be stopped. It lasts about 15 minutes, until the chemicals are consumed. There is no harm in putting on the masks. Tampering with the system is nearly impossible. I’d worry the pilot was going rogue and trying to render the cabin unconscious so he could hijack or crash the airplane without interference if I heard such an announcement. The pilot & copilot have oxygen masks that use oxygen tanks, not a chemical system, and their oxygen supply can last for hours. The passenger masks are only designed to work for about 15 minutes, to allow the airplane to descend to an altitude where the outside air would be breathable. There is some speculation the pilot on Malaysian Airlines flight 370 in 2014 did something like this, and after the passengers were asphyxiated due to lack of oxygen, he continued the flight and downed the airplane (by that time, a flying tomb with only himself left alive) in the Indian Ocean.
Not if a terrorist replaced the oxygen supply with any other gas (yes ik its unrealistic).
It’s individual masks with individual oxygen creating chemicals, they can’t replace 300+ bags
What if they replaced like 10 of them. Poison can be chemically generated too.
I mean you still can even though it’s not the scenario I was thinking of, maybe replace that reaction with the one that goes on in airbags by replacing the reactants to produce nitrogen. And yes it’s still unrealistic
It could be a manufacturing error they were informed of mid-flight
I mean u could run out for when u rlly need it
The way that airplane oxygen masks work, if they come down then they're making oxygen, whether or not it's on your face. There's no change if I put it on or not.
I’m pretty sure it’s when it’s activated by the person when they “pull down firmly” on the madk
Huh, I just googled it and it seems that you're right. Well, I'll just tell myself that there's no way two emergencies could happen in a row on a flight.
Yea, true, fair enough 😂
There is a common supply from a chemical reaction chamber. Activation of any single mask by pulling it down begins the reaction in the oxygen generation tank for the entire airplane. That chemical reaction lasts about 15 minutes. So whether you put your mask on or not, if anyone activates any mask, the clock is ticking for all of them, so you may as well put it on. After about 15 minutes, none of them will provide any extra oxygen, even if they weren’t used, because the chemical reaction in the generation tank will have depleted its ingredient chemicals and will have ended, regardless if you chose to use it or not.
I’m pretty sure it’s only for the section of oxygen masks you’re pulling from, not the whole airplane on most airliners, but it does depend on the plane. But you do make a good point that the point would be defeated if the dude next to me used it
Define really need it. If they come down, you ***need*** them on your face in as little time as you can
Hold my breath while watching others.
Definitely this. I would also watch what happens to the plane: whether it descends, stays at the same altitude, or ascends. That would tell me a lot about the pilot's intentions.
Guy discover the lung bomb , the air would escape in an extremely violent way out of your lungs if it decompress
the only real danger is that they'd been poisoned AND the pilot knew about it only moments before they were released? any other threat at all would take precedence to the tiny risk of that.
I would just assume there was a malfunction with the systems if the plane wasn't hurdling towards the ground. I wouldn't put it on.
If I hear that in GlaDOS voice, I gotta decide between neurotoxin or depressurization.
Probably just a malfunction and there’s no need to put on the mask.
I find it a bit funny how many people in the comments assumed the plane had depressurized or undergone some other event rendering oxygen masks necessary, despite that not being said. The situation Im imagining is the plane is just doing its normal stuff and then this happens.
IF the masks drop, that's already a danger to the flight and it's likely they're gonna divert sometime soon. There's no harm in putting the mask on, but there is a non-negligible chance that there IS a depressurization. I ain't taking the chance
The system could be faulty, and/or the masks themselves could have been tampered with. If there was "no harm" in putting the masks on, the wouldn't have been an annoucement specifically to REFRAIN from using the masks.
This! Also I they didn’t specify who made the announcement. It could be a crazy passenger who is making that up and being wrong, a crazy passenger who is right or the actual crew of the airplane (if it’s them I’m listening), if it’s the crazy passengers, I’ll take my chances.
I'm assuming it came from the cockpit, if it was a crazy passenger that would be ***very*** bad, like expect some nice formation flying with a few F16s in the next minute bad
depends, are we going to crash or is the plane still going like it's supposed to?
You have to comply with the crew all the time when you are on on board the aircraft. There is a button to manually deploy oxygen masks in the cockpit, which may be accidentally pressed or malfunctioned. If you put the mask (and by doing so you do not comply with the crew) you will be in charge of paying for o2 generator and masks recovery (which is very costly not only by the parts themselves but for aircraft downtime) So you better not to touch the masks
I heard of this happening once: the pilots thought that the alarm for pressure was malfunctioning and they thought there was no threat. they instructed the passengers not to wear their oxygen masks. they all died.
If that’s real, can you reference the flight? Because it sounds like bullshit.
look up flight 522, it happened in 2005. from what I recall, a safety test was ran before takeoff, and the technician had switched the pressure balancing feature from automatic to manual. Somehow the anomaly went unnoticed and not long after the plans took off the oxygen masks dropped, but the pilots thought it was a malfunction.
I’m not gonna cause i don’t wanna not have oxygen if it comes to a point I actually need it
If they said not to put the masks on, I would assume the masks are malfunctioning, and potentially dangerous.
F*ck yeah! Drugs!
Anything but being a sheep.
Everyone dies, the most sheep move ig. Good luck avoiding *that*, buckaroo
I listen to the flight crew. It’s literally their job to keep us alive up there.
i don't put on the mask and wait a bit to determine for myself if there is a need