Mr. Freeze hijacked the plane? Actually, could this be caused by a change in cabin pressure?
For technical aspect/debate of cabin depressurization, read this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1463039/posts
One gent had a particularly interesting point:
#120:
To: leadpenny
Maybe, but something smells bad about this. Commercial pilots are trained, trained, and trained again what to do in this kind of situation. They've got oxygen masks immediately handy, and in the 737 they've got a gauge handy that shows them the relative altitude of the cabin (what altitude the cabin pressure is simulating), what the differential is between outside and inside, and they've also got alarms that go nuts if the cabin altitude goes over a certain figure.
If those alarms go off, they immediately call ATC, declare an emergency, and descend to under 14,000 feet as quickly as possible, which would take several minutes from 30,000+ feet. The oxygen masks have to be able to be donned in just a few seconds, and pilots practice it every year in training.
Also, a commercial jetliner is going to be flying about 10,000 feet lower than Stewart's jet was (I think he was up at FL450, 45,000 feet), which *should* extend the time of useful consciousness enough to let them at least call ATC and declare the emergency, and start down.
In order for something like this to happen I think two separate things have to go wrong--there has to be a pressurization failure somewhere on the airplane, *and* the backup oxygen systems, which use chemical generators (like what brought down that Valujet DC-9 in the Everglades), have to fail. If both of those happened, then yes, the pilots and passengers could conceivably pass out before the plane reached breathable altitudes. But, they *should* come back around when it does. Now, will they come back to consciousness in time to stop the plane from hitting the ground? Maybe, maybe not.
Something really, really, smells here. Especially since one news article mentions that a passenger text-messaged a relative before the crash that the pilots were unconscious. If true, that means the cabin had pressure, but the pilots were still unconscious or dead? Very fishy.
BTW, I'm not a pilot, just a wannabee and flight-sim geek. We need some real pilots in here to clarify.
}:-)4
Sudden pressure decrease causes drop in temperature in a gas - it's the basis of most air conditioning systems. My question, though, is why would a passenger have the time and mental capacitiy to TEXT MESSAGE his cousin, when nobody was able to go to the cockpit and at least try to bring the plane in. That's the suspicious part to me. Why was the pilot reported unconscious by a passenger?