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- Having just been involved in a flight where the oxygen masks
- were dropped, I'm curious what the test criteria are and how
- often is it done? I'd also like to know what the failure rate
- is?
-
- On my flight, America West on a Boeing 737, an oil seal supposedly
- failed on the APU for the air conditioning system. This sent
- oily smoke in the cabin. I assume the cockpit crew decided that
- breathing that air wasn't good for the passengers and dropped, or
- should I say tried to drop, the emergency oxygen masks. I'd say
- that 1/4 of the overhead doors did not open until they were pried
- open by a passenger and then a lot of the masks did not seem to
- supply oxygen even after following the "pull hard to start the
- flow of oxygen" instructions. I looked at my mask which didn't
- work and could not tell what the "pull hard" did to start the
- oxygen.
-
- Gary Jacobs
- gjacobs@qualcomm.com
-
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-