4 ms·

The fact that the plane was taken up to 45,000, far above it's recommended limit, bothers me in this regard. What would the effects be on the passengers? Would

The fact that the plane was taken up to 45,000, far above it's recommended limit, bothers me in this regard. What would the effects be on the passengers? Would this have been orchestrated in order to somehow incapacitate them? I have no idea if the cockpit is pressurized separately from the rest of the plane, or if there's any way to tamper with the deployment of the plane's oxygen masks. It's all speculation on my part.

KaiserPro 13y ago
its all pressurised under the same envelope. The pilots have oxygen masks.
caf 13y ago
The pressurisation is not independent, but the emergency O2 is - the cockpit is supplied from tanks and the cabin from chemical generators. The cabin generators can be disabled by tripping a circuit breaker (and they only last about 12 minutes anyway).
wazoox 13y ago
The cockpit isn't pressurised separately. It's possible to alter oxygen masks deployment, I know for sure it must be done landing at some altitude airports like Quito which are higher up than normal cabin altitude. De pressurizing the plane would be extremely dangerous anyway, even with your oxygen mask on. Among other things the cabin temperature would drop to -50°C or so, the low pressure could induce fatal embolism, loss of consciousness, etc.
Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
The cockpit isn't airtight - it would be at the same pressure as the rest of the cabin. The recommended limit around 43,100 ft. 45,000 ft isn't that far above it so it's possible that there may be no impact on passengers at that level (if you're saying 43,100ft is safe, you're going to have a margin for error, it's not going to depressurize at 43,101 ft). Certainly if it was part of your plan to incapacitate the passengers it seems overly complex, risky and uncertain. That said, given what happened on Flight 77, if you were hijacking a plane, a plan to deal with the passengers would make a lot of sense. I'm just not sure this plan to do so does.
- rolux 13y ago
  There are huge safety margins in aviation. Ascending to 45,000 ft or above is an aerodynamics issue, not a pressurization issue. Pressurization ("cabin altitude") will adjust automatically.
- Houshalter 13y ago
  There are not many ways to incapacitate hundreds of passengers.
  - Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
    This is true. When I started thinking about it nothing obvious came to mind. But that doesn't change the fact that flying at 45,000ft probably wouldn't do it and would be a very risky way of not doing it.

KaiserPro 13y ago

its all pressurised under the same envelope. The pilots have oxygen masks.

caf 13y ago

The pressurisation is not independent, but the emergency O2 is - the cockpit is supplied from tanks and the cabin from chemical generators. The cabin generators can be disabled by tripping a circuit breaker (and they only last about 12 minutes anyway).

wazoox 13y ago

The cockpit isn't pressurised separately. It's possible to alter oxygen masks deployment, I know for sure it must be done landing at some altitude airports like Quito which are higher up than normal cabin altitude. De pressurizing the plane would be extremely dangerous anyway, even with your oxygen mask on. Among other things the cabin temperature would drop to -50°C or so, the low pressure could induce fatal embolism, loss of consciousness, etc.

Tyrannosaurs 13y ago

The cockpit isn't airtight - it would be at the same pressure as the rest of the cabin. The recommended limit around 43,100 ft. 45,000 ft isn't that far above it so it's possible that there may be no impact on passengers at that level (if you're saying 43,100ft is safe, you're going to have a margin for error, it's not going to depressurize at 43,101 ft). Certainly if it was part of your plan to incapacitate the passengers it seems overly complex, risky and uncertain. That said, given what happened on Flight 77, if you were hijacking a plane, a plan to deal with the passengers would make a lot of sense. I'm just not sure this plan to do so does.

rolux 13y ago
There are huge safety margins in aviation. Ascending to 45,000 ft or above is an aerodynamics issue, not a pressurization issue. Pressurization ("cabin altitude") will adjust automatically.
Houshalter 13y ago
There are not many ways to incapacitate hundreds of passengers.
- Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
  This is true. When I started thinking about it nothing obvious came to mind. But that doesn't change the fact that flying at 45,000ft probably wouldn't do it and would be a very risky way of not doing it.