DISCLAIMER – I am not planning on smashing the window on an airplane.
In flight?
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Masks would fall down
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The crew will start an emergency descent to a breathable altitude
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The crew will call a may day and reroute to the nearest suitable airport
Worth noting that the masks in the cabin aren’t designed to keep you awake. They’re just designed to keep you alive. They’re basically just hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst, which mixes when you pull the mask down. The resulting chemical reaction produces a small amount of oxygen for a short time. This is also why the instructions say to put your own mask on before helping any children; You only have 15-30 seconds of usable consciousness before you pass out, so you need the mask to stay awake long enough to help anyone else. The pilots are the only ones who actually have masks good enough to stay awake, and that’s why they immediately dive to a breathable altitude.
Also, the entire cabin would immediately fog from the sudden pressure and temperature change. We’re talking “can’t even see your fingertips when your arm is outstretched” levels of fog.
And while we’re talking about it, the cabin would suddenly be cold. Like absolutely fucking freezing.
Lastly, your ears will painfully pop, and will likely ring for a while afterwards. The sudden pressure change will feel like you got slapped on the ears.
masks in the cabin aren’t designed to keep you awake. They’re just designed to keep you alive.
In that situation I’m perfectly fine with that. More than perfectly fine, in fact. Sounds like a feature I’d pay extra for (don’t tell United).
Concise, interesting. Will pm you a nude.
Can I have one?
You may want to ask more questions first before soliciting that nude.
Tell me more about this immediate fog thing, what causes it and what doesn’t it clear quickly?
edit: Wait the masks only produce oxygen for 30s or the breathable oxygen at that altitude is only available for ~30s?
it’s usually -40°c outside when you are in cruise altitude. Open your home window when it’s freezing outside (less than 0°c) can give you an idea why you would have fog in the aircraft until its complete decompression.
The mask can produce “oxygen” for about 15 to 20 min max. You have to be below 10000 feets to be “ok” without mask (it will be like being in a montain at high altitude).
Without putting the mask, you loose conciousness in about 30sec.
Note: this scenario is the worse in term of decompression event. Usually this type of failure would happen during the ascent.
If you hold you breathe would you stay conscious longer?
i don’t think its possible (but i’m not an expert on that) due to the sudden differential of pressure you encounter. I assume it’s like being punched.
Best is to react quickly for yourself, then look and help the people around you…
If plane go quickly under 10000 feets, the unconscious people will wake-up (normally)
That’s exactly what I want in a situation like that, the crew to respond like it’s any other Tuesday.
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That one right there officer
Worth pointing out that it is highly unlikely for an airplane window to either smash or pop out — they’re multi-layered Lexan reinforced panes mounted from the inside. And they’ve all got a hole on the inside pane so that a controlled decompression with a loud whistling would happen long before the entire pane would give way. This would likely provide time for the masks to drop and the pilot to adjust altitude long before any explosive decompression (if that even occurred).
Likewise, doors are designed not to open at altitude.
So the only weak spots these days are door plugs and the bathrooms.
Pedant, but the pressure difference between 1 atmosphere and zero isn’t all that great, so explosive decompression wouldn’t happen even in the worst case scenario. Rapid yes, explosive no.
To be explosive you need something like the Byford Dolphin diving bell incident, which was 9 atmospheres to 1 in a fraction of a second.
It depends very much on the height.
If we assume a jet flight at around 30.000 feet:
The cabin pressure goes down immediately, that means, a very strong wind goes out of this open window. Several eardrums burst. (Stupid people panic and cry). Afterwards people cannot breathe normally because of the low pressure… They need these air masks.
Then the pilot descends immediately to something like 5.000 feet - I don’t know exactly - where everybody can breathe normally again.
And then you land at the next airport.
Halfway decent comment so adding more:
The emergency descent altitude is almost always 10,000 feet. This is because most people will be able to breath without the oxygen mask at this altitude. But, do not take off your mask.
They do not descend lower because, succinctly, what if all engine power is lost? If that happens then the pilots want enough altitude to have enough time to try and restart the engines and, failing engine restart, to extend gliding range in effort to maximize choices of where to land.
Qualifications: expired VFR license (not a commercial pilot)
And to add to the conversation(if there’s anything incorrect please let me know) from videos I’ve seen by MentourPilot, Captain Joe and online sources
The process will most likely look like the following (assuming an emergency descent is needed because the cabin can’t be pressurized like with the window vs some smaller hole air leak):
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They will put on their own o2 masks (it’s critical to do this as you can lose consciousness in under a minute)
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They will set the transponder to a code that denotes the emergency to both ATC and nearby traffic
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They will radio the distress both for ATC but also nearby planes to give them a heads up that they’ll be rapidly descending. If it’s in a high traffic area they may wait for approval to begin descent (and you can be sure ATC is going to be moving planes out of the way.). If it’s taking too long they will begin descending anyway.
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They’ll announce to the cabin that they’re doing an emergency descent
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They will start a rapid descent to 10,000 ft (if terrain allows it, otherwise down to whatever they can safely get to). This is because the emergency o2 is limited to about 15 minutes.
Some interesting things I learned about this.
They will often use autopilot for the descent and level flight. This is because of limited visibility and a risk of possible issues caused by low o2.
They turn on all lights to make sure they’re as visible as possible to other traffic.
This descent will be really unpleasant. Not a gentle descent but the safest one (especially if they’re unsure if there’s any structural issues) they can do. Which will be quite a bit steeper than anybody is used to.
So passengers on the plane will experience this as:
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Loud rushing noise. Possible moisture filling the cabin now that you have outside cold air mixing with warm air and surfaces inside
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Masks dropping and seatbelt signs
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Shortly after the Captain saying “Emergency descent” 3 or so times
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Flight screw scrambling to seats and putting on masks
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The sound of the wings adjusting for speed brakes, shuddering from the flight profile change,
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The sounds of the engines being revved up to the planes maximum speed as the nose of the plane tipping down. It will feel like it’s faster than it really is with the shift in gravity followed by being pressed back due to the increase in speed during descent.
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The plane shifting as they turn away from the main traffic area as they descend (unless told otherwise by ATC, etc)
Not a fun experience I’m sure
Some sources to check out
Emergency descend!! Cockpit video
Explosive decompression at Simulador TCP. EAS Barcelona pilot school
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Stupid people panic and cry
I’m not sure I’d call it STUPID to panic when something extremely scary happens to you…
I mean, I wouldn’t exactly call it smart either. Panic is pretty useless in situations where flight is not an option (in the flight or fight sense … but it makes for a good pun too).
I wouldn’t call it smart either but to look down on someone who freaks out when an airplane window blows out seems a bit much lol
Would you agree that it is wise not to panic?
Yes but there’s plenty of better-suited middle ground between wise and stupid
No. Wrong.
It is clear and simple in that order of events that we are describing here: the ones who panic and the ones who don’t. And so I describe them with clear and simple words. That other guy who always looks for some grey areas in between and then makes lots of buts and long winding arguments, he is just not there. No time for him, no place for him.
He maybe comes afterwards, when all is over and I don’t care anymore, and that’s what I do with you now.
Oh ok you’re right it is binary. I now understand that if you are stupid if you aren’t 100% calm during a very stressful situation. Thank you for the explanation.
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DISCLAIMER – I am not planning on smashing the window on an airplane.
That’s what someone who plans on smashing the window on a plane would say.
That’s what someone who plans on smashing the window on a plane would say.
I disagree, respectfully.
If I were planning on smashing the window on a plane, then I would say:
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(drums rolling)
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Nothing at all.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
They probably wouldn’t take off.
Absolutely won’t be taking off on that plane; it’s not going to be a 30-minute Safelite AeroGlass™️ appointment. And airlines don’t keep planes sitting around not making money so they won’t have a spare aircraft available to fly that route so all the passengers will likely get hotel and meal vouchers and changed tickets for the next day.
hotel and meal vouchers
In the US? Not in the past decade. I usually get a link to an app that’s like shitty Expedia for local hotels. You can race to compete for rooms with other stranded passengers while your partner tries to re-book the flight for the next day. “I’m sorry - all flights are full until next Tuesday. We can put you on standby, but there’s a list of people ahead of you.”
This probably goes hand in hand with the trend of providing sleepable bench seating in airports. For awhile they were doing the anti-homeless park bench design. You’ll have to fight your fellow passengers for space, but it’s better than the floor at DIA or ORD.
My whole family got a hotel when our delayed plane made us miss a connection and that was five years back.
I don’t fly much and sleepable benches helps me feel like that’s the right thing to not do.
