Emergency descent

[soubriquet 0]

The Grauniad.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/aug/26/ryanair.theairlineindustry

 

"Passengers on a Ryanair flight that was forced to make an emergency landing in France have claimed oxygen masks failed to work when the cabin lost air pressure and the airplane plunged thousands of feet.

 

.....

 

The Arctic explorer Pen Hadow, his wife, Mary, and their son and daughter were among the 168 passengers who feared for their lives as the aircraft plummeted and oxygen masks dropped down. Hadow said a number of oxygen masks inside the cabin failed to work properly.

 

.....

 

The next thing the oxygen masks were dropping. My highest priority was to get a mask on to my son who was sitting next to me in a bemused and frightened state. We were descending for about five minutes from what I assume was 30,000 or 40,000ft to 8,000ft. As we landed we saw fire engines every quarter of a mile down the runway"

 

Righty Oh. The aircraft "plummeted thousands of feet". It actually made a controlled descent according to standard operating procedure. The only thing missing from "aircraft plunging" report is "narrowly missing schools and hospitals".

 

Our Arctic Hero has clearly failed to listen to the pre-flight briefing. "If the oxygen masks descend, then pull them down and fit them. Put on your own mask before attending to children"

 

No 1. You have to pull down on the mask to make it work.

 

No2. You have to get it right to be able to help your children.

 

Nothing like being wilfully ignorant, eh

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Originally Posted By: soubriquet

Our Arctic Hero has clearly failed to listen to the pre-flight briefing. "If the oxygen masks descend, then pull them down and fit them. Put on your own mask before attending to children"

No 1. You have to pull down on the mask to make it work.

No2. You have to get it right to be able to help your children.

Nothing like being wilfully ignorant, eh

True Soubs!

However it does fly in the face of the automatic human response (well mine anyway) in that we automatically try to save our children before ourselves. Logic clearly dictates that you are no use to your child if you are rendered unconcious so the psychological battle between logic and panic begins.

Looks like he was in panicked survival mode.... I am thankful that so far I have not been involved in a plane disaster, how I would react is supposition...but judging from the few 'disaster' situations I have been involved with in my life I could predict that I would go stupidly calm and start running through checklists of safety/life saving until it was over - like a dispassionate robot - and then when it was all over I would sit in a corner and sob my heart out (like a big GIRL).

[soubriquet 0]

My JayRow pilot in the Pilbara was an ex-QANTAS 747 Captain. His briefing was "If you see me jumping out of the left door, then jump out from the right".

 

He pulled some fantastic stunts flying us through the Pilbara canyons. I wish I'd had a video rather than a still camera. There's nothing like being banked at 90 degrees and 2G in front of a 300 metre cliff. Woo Hoo !

[JA2340 16]

sorta like being sat on the floor of a huey as the polit takes off and rotates to 90degreees so you are looking at dirt, thenm says "oh, sorry, youse guys are'nt seeing anything" and banks to 90deg the other way so the view is sky.

 

Hell fun, but a bit scary as there weren't any belts for the "B class" passengers, we were linked by our arms through the central dividing cargo mesh. Pilot & crew had belts and harnesses.

[soubriquet 0]

Were you there JA?

 

Harold Wilson was the lowest common denominator (politically), but he had the guts to tell the USA to get stuffed. Unlike Bliar.

[JA2340 16]

Yep, sat on the floor of the huey with doors removed, all part of our initiation into the wonders of heli insertions in the Complete Military F***up (oops, Citizen Military Forces).

 

Spent a half hour after that trying to hook a roo by the ears with the skids. All fun!!