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I saw another cabin pic and it looked like NO ONE had their oxygen masks on properly. I wish people would actually listen when the stewardesses say "Place over

I saw another cabin pic and it looked like NO ONE had their oxygen masks on properly. I wish people would actually listen when the stewardesses say "Place over your nose AND mouth and breath normally". Putting the mask cup over just your mouth is next to useless.

gowld 9y ago
What happens if you don't cover your nose?
- lutorm 9y ago
  As long as you remember to only breathe through your mouth, nothing. But if you don't, you'll pass out just as quickly as you would without the mask.
- cyberferret 9y ago
  You essentially won't be getting the oxygen. In reality - those yellow masks are borderline ineffective anyway. You basically need an airtight seal around your entire nose and mouth otherwise the pure O2 will simply vent away. But at the altitudes that commercial aircraft fly at, it is better than nothing. Below about 25,000 feet they provide a little more time before onset of hypoxia, but above 35,000 they would be useless. Best bet if you are at higher altitudes is to hold the mask on as tight as possible and try to eliminate any gaps. If you notice the oxygen masks that the pilots use (and that fighter pilots use), they are a very different beast, and have secure latching mechanisms to hold the mask tightly against your face with NO gaps at all. (Also a reason why beards are banned for flight crew in the air force - can't have ANY gaps where the O2 can leak out). My old flight instructor used to fly jets in the Air Force back in the 50's and 60's, when the cockpits were unpressurised, and he said that at altitudes around 60,000+ feet, if your oxygen mask failed, you had about 1 second of consciousness. In fact, he said at those altitudes, the pressure differential was so great that your diaphragm actually couldn't expand to enable normal breathing, and they used to have liquid oxygen pressure fed through their masks. If they wanted to breath, they just opened their mouth and freezing cold LOX (which vaporised almost instantly at that altitude) would be rammed down their gullets...
  - Symmetry 9y ago
    Even in space you should have ~10 seconds of consciousness before you black out, same as in strangulation that cuts off your carotids. But yeah, oxygen masks are hard.
userbinator 9y ago
Of course the masks work better with both the nose and mouth in them, but people tend to "gasp for air" in emergencies anyway, so just the mouth would be enough to inhale oxygen.
petee 9y ago
Rewatched the video, and you can even see the drawing on the bag showing proper use. I'm sure in a panic you're not thinking but still...I agree, they tell you this stuff for a reason - I fully read the safety card every time: for example, some planes will sink if you open the rear exit in a water landing!

gowld 9y ago

What happens if you don't cover your nose?

lutorm 9y ago
As long as you remember to only breathe through your mouth, nothing. But if you don't, you'll pass out just as quickly as you would without the mask.
cyberferret 9y ago
You essentially won't be getting the oxygen. In reality - those yellow masks are borderline ineffective anyway. You basically need an airtight seal around your entire nose and mouth otherwise the pure O2 will simply vent away. But at the altitudes that commercial aircraft fly at, it is better than nothing. Below about 25,000 feet they provide a little more time before onset of hypoxia, but above 35,000 they would be useless. Best bet if you are at higher altitudes is to hold the mask on as tight as possible and try to eliminate any gaps. If you notice the oxygen masks that the pilots use (and that fighter pilots use), they are a very different beast, and have secure latching mechanisms to hold the mask tightly against your face with NO gaps at all. (Also a reason why beards are banned for flight crew in the air force - can't have ANY gaps where the O2 can leak out). My old flight instructor used to fly jets in the Air Force back in the 50's and 60's, when the cockpits were unpressurised, and he said that at altitudes around 60,000+ feet, if your oxygen mask failed, you had about 1 second of consciousness. In fact, he said at those altitudes, the pressure differential was so great that your diaphragm actually couldn't expand to enable normal breathing, and they used to have liquid oxygen pressure fed through their masks. If they wanted to breath, they just opened their mouth and freezing cold LOX (which vaporised almost instantly at that altitude) would be rammed down their gullets...
- Symmetry 9y ago
  Even in space you should have ~10 seconds of consciousness before you black out, same as in strangulation that cuts off your carotids. But yeah, oxygen masks are hard.

userbinator 9y ago

Of course the masks work better with both the nose and mouth in them, but people tend to "gasp for air" in emergencies anyway, so just the mouth would be enough to inhale oxygen.

petee 9y ago

Rewatched the video, and you can even see the drawing on the bag showing proper use. I'm sure in a panic you're not thinking but still...I agree, they tell you this stuff for a reason - I fully read the safety card every time: for example, some planes will sink if you open the rear exit in a water landing!