"It can happen quickly and there are 20 seconds to do something about it once the oxygen is depleted." Not for the pilots they would have had advanced warning of any depresurrisation not matter how subtle via alarms in the cockpit. Also in the event of catastrophic failures the pilots are trained to recognize the advanced effects of oxygen deprivation. they have better and more advanced breathing equipment in their cockpit, so why did they die at their controls? Some theories in Europe at the moment point to faulty AC which could have being pumping toxic gases through the plane.
but didn't you notice a number of false information tidbits right from the beginning, before they even knew what had happened? first, i heard a report the airlines was privately run...then they said there were 80 children on board, then that was denied. then it was revised down to 38 or so...almost immediately terrorism was ruled out, even though that was, i believe, the third plane to go down in that area in a week...apparently the plane went around and around for 20 minutes without communication, according to a report today.
and the f16 pilots said they SAW other persons in the cockpit apparently trying to right the plane, with the pilots down. it's all very strange.
"Some theories in Europe at the moment point to faulty AC which could have being pumping toxic gases through the plane."
That seems like a reasonable explanation, but I wonder what toxic gases there could be unless there were some kind of electrical fire in the AC unit. Also, why were the pilots overcome so quickly when some passengers - apparently were not overcome for quite some time?