Can a pilot manually decompress the cabin?

Yes, s/he could depressurize the aircraft. Even at FL450, a sudden depressurization is not going to kill everyone in the cabin. The pilot has no control over the oxygen masks; if they detect too high of a cabin altitude, they are going to drop.

Can pilots depressurize a plane?

Padfield said depressurization can happen quickly or slowly. If quickly, there is little time to react, although pilots are trained to keep an eye on cabin pressure and adjust the plane’s oxygen levels accordingly. If depressurization happened slowly, passengers might not notice right away, Padfield said.

What happens if you depressurize an airplane cabin?

When a cabin depressurizes, the percentage of oxygen in the air stays about the same, but the molecules get further and further apart, Padfield explained. Then the air expands through an expansion turbine that cools air in the same way you can cool air by blowing it out of puckered lips.

What are the signs of slow decompression?

One of the first physiological indications of a slow decompression may be ear discomfort or ‘popping’, joint pain, or stomach pain due to gas expansion. As mentioned, the greatest danger during decompression is hypoxia.

How long does it take for a plane to depressurize?

It depends on the altitude the plane was flying at when the depressurization occurred. Airliners can descend over 8,000 feet per minutes if needed. A descent from 35,000 feet at that rate would have you down to 11,000 feet in 3 minutes or less.

How is oxygen level maintained in an airplane?

The Processing of Cabin Air During flight, air will enter an airplane’s jet engines. As the air passes through the engines, it will enter a series of machines where it’s further processed. The hot air is essentially compressed during this process, thereby making it breathable.

Can a person explode in a decompression chamber?

Explosive decompression (ED) is violent and too fast for air to escape safely from the lungs and other air-filled cavities in the body such as the sinuses and eustachian tubes, typically resulting in severe to fatal barotrauma.