"Duct" Tape used to tape up the cover to oxygen masks
#16
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#17
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#18
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So realize that everyone else's masks have released, unbuckle belt (most likely), stand up, fiddle with tape, pull it off (hopefully a corner was folded over or something), and then try to get the mask on before passing out? No thanks!
#19
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I'm guessing the reason for the portable oxygen tank is so that at least 1 person could put it on and do the work you mentioned and put the masks on the other passengers if necessary. I certainly would have helped out once I put my mask on.
While it does increase the risk to the passenger, the risk of something actually happening, that requires a mask, that for some reason nobody can reach for, and that the mask is actually necessary because the pilot couldn't start descending for several minutes instead of the normal 5-6 seconds is probably less likely than getting killed crossing the street.
That's just my opinion.
#20
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I have seen this a couple times. Once on a QR 787; they do not have center bins in the J cabin.. one pax reached up and yanked on it thinking there were bins there and ripped the whole section off.
Nothing a little duct tape can't fix.
Nothing a little duct tape can't fix.
#21
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And even if you do pass out, you're not dead; there are other people around to help get the mask on you.
And moreover, I would expect that the people in those rows will have actually thought about how to don masks far more than your average traveler (for whom the safety briefing is routine and largely forgotten); I wouldn't be surprised if that extra, recent thought would make putting a mask on quicker, in total, for those particular passengers on that particular trip. And the FAs and pilots presumably gave them a bit of an extra briefing. And as mentioned, there's the portable oxygen tank that was placed under their seat.
OP: were those nine passengers all able-bodied adults? This seems like a situation where swapping out anyone who couldn't stand up or has restricted breathing would be a good idea.
#24
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I believe they were all adults, but I'm not sure. The 3 in front of me were, but the other 6 were about 7-10 rows back.