This sounds a lot like the Payne Stewart crash. It's surprising that the pilots didn't have time to realize what was happening and reduce altitude before they lost consciousness.
Huh.
It will be interesting to learn the age of the aircraft. Boeing 737's have been in production longer than any other A/C model. They are still in production and are a very good aircraft. Old/high time ones are subject to aging aircrft inspection and repairs. Remember Aloha Airlines, the top blew off in flight. Why would the cockpit crew suffer the effects of what was happening befor the passengers did? There is a pressure bulkhead (F.S 178) just forward of the flight crews feet that must be replaced at a certain time/cycle due to fatigue cracking. If it failed it could account for this loss
The report was that the plane was at 34,000 feet when contact was lost; at that altitude it was -50 degrees fahrenheit or so.
I find the "!" on the end of this post a little disturbing, it reminds of an ambulance chaser type person?
Found a Nasa Interactive Atmosphere Simulator web page. I tells you the temp and air pressure of different altitudes.
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/atmosi.html
This article is poorly written. Early on it says that a man was arrested who claimed to have received a text message saying, "Cousin, we're freezing," and the authorities believe he was lying, and later in the article it states as fact that a man received a text message saying, "Cousin, we're freezing."
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Officials on Tuesday said they had found only the exterior container of the cockpit voice recorder from a Cypriot airliner crash that killed 121 people, hampering investigative efforts into the accident's cause.