At 30,000 feet the outside air is minus 50 degrees.
? Why,.....why was this plane at 30,000 feet at all?
.....Gas-Compressed-Ice-System?
...brilliant sabatage?
...or,....just,....first,....'special-fumes'...in the cockpit cabin
Condolence,......in Jesus' Precious Name......
No. The adiabatic lapse rate is approx. three degrees per thousand feet. 3x30=90 degrees colder than on the ground. Summer in Greece runs about 90 degrees F. That would mean about 0 degrees F at 30,000 feet, which is not even close to the temp required to freeze a human body solid in less than 18 hours. The flight was only into its second or third hour when the decompression happened. I don't believe it's possible that the bodies were "frozen solid."
Yes, but unless there is a VERY sudden decompression, pilots would respond to a dangerous decrease in cabin air temperature by moving quickly to a much lower altitude and immediately requesting emergency landing clearance at the nearest airport that can handle the type of plane in question. In this case, the only reported indication of a problem was the pilot reporting "an air conditioning problem". This is really bizarre, but I have to think there was some sort of explosion or other sudden major structural problem. When a commercial jet pilot's fingers start turning blue, s/he wouldn't wait to pass out and freeze solid before trying to take corrective action.
Were they at 30,000 ft? I thought a short haul flight would be flying a lot lower, say at around 15,000. If so, wouldn't that have bought them a little more time?