Originally Posted by
LarryJ
When they drop, nothing happens. When someone pulls a mask down it activates the oxygen generator canister that produces oxygen for that group of seats, i.e. ABC or DEF. Activating a canister will start a chemical reaction that produces oxygen for about 12 to 15 minutes. There is no way to stop a canister, once started, until it is depleted.
I'm just parsing the words in the article. The masks announcement playing doesn't mean that the masks have dropped. It can be activated separately. If the masks actually dropped then all of them would have dropped and a good number of passengers would have followed the directions from the safety briefing, and annoucement, and would have activated many of the canisters. From the article, it does not sound as though that happened.
I was trying to imagine this scenario. You are humming along at FL 320 having fun and suddenly the masks deploy. Cabin is still at FL 70 say, but of course the smart pax remove any mouth coverings, pull the masks down and activate the flow, putting on their masks first before helping others, and noting that even though the bag does not inflate, oxygen is flowing.
as the PIC you now have a ship thst after 15 minutes, no longer has supplemental oxygen. Aren’t you now obligated to complete the rest of the trip at lower altitude, and what is that ceiling? Of course , your diversion has to be reachable at lower altitude with the larger fuel burn.
thanks for the myth busting, LarryJ