Guns in planes myth BUSTED on nat'l TV!

[H&Hhunter]

Back in the days before I was flying for the majors I used to fly for a company who had a large fleet of nearly deralict DC-8s. I can't count the number of times I've stuck a wet cloth onto a side window seal. These old birds were bent dryed out and leaky. The whistling noise at altitude would drive you insane specially on a trans Pacific flight. The cloth trick works pretty good.

Had a over wing exit seal blow out one day on a 737. The noise was so horrendus in the passenger cabin that we landed in Las Vegas and got the people on another plane. But we had no indication on the flight deck what so ever.

As Azlibertarion says a bullet through the skin just ain't an issue.

Az, 320, have you guys applied to the FFDO program yet? Are you going to?

 

[Bill Hook]

Hypoxia is a slow killer, and the symptoms are subtle, but it is a killer none-the-less.

Payne Stewart.

 

[Fly320s]

Az, 320, have you guys applied to the FFDO program yet? Are you going to?

Yes, I've applied.

 

[JamisJockey]

Fly320's,
You rock! They won't let me carry at work. I guess they trust me with dozens of airplanes full of screaming passengers, but a gun at work..... I could shoot someone
Hey you been to SLC lately?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I think the Mythbuster show is a terrific show, but the idea that they busted the myth of being sucked out of small holes in an airplane is really pretty silly given all the pressurized planes that have suffered various types of mechanical failures or experience combat damage at altitude.

You really have to wonder about the silliness of the myth that people could get sucked out of small holes in a window or aircraft skin. Anybody have any idea just how high the pressure inside the plane would have to be to force a human being out a bullet-sized hole? Even forgetting hard tissue such as bones for just a second, I would guess it would have to be several hundred PSI to make that happen, maybe more. I don't think there is a flying commercial aircraft out there with a skin to contain that sort of pressure within the crew and passenger compartments.

What a lot of folks fail to understand about 'leaking' airplanes is that the leaking of air from the passenger and crew compartments is no accident and is absolutely necessary to survival of the occupants. It is not simply good enough to pump oxygen or clean air into the cabin and expect the occupants to remain safe and healthy. Critical to survival is not just having access to oxygen, but also limiting exposure to carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a natural byproduct of respiration. Another source of carbon dioxide in commerical passenger planes comes from the use of dry ice as a means of refridgeration for food and ice. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. According to the FAA (http://www1.faa.gov/avr/arm/co2rule.txt), max carbon dioxide should be no more than 0.5%. The percent was lowered from 3.0% which was a level that actually was unhealthy for the occupants, especially over longer periods of time (such as long flights).

SO...a significant and key benefit to leaky pressurized aircraft is that the leaks serve to keep a continuous flow of air within the plane and to flush out carbon dioxide so as to keep carbon dioxide levels within the plane from reaching unsafe levels.

 

[Gewehr98]

Had an outflow valve fail once...

B52-H model, 49,980 feet altitude. We were trying for 50K feet. Never made it, the outflow valve failed and we had a neat experience, fog in both decks, rustling papers, etc. Neat thing was, we had already been on our O2 hoses since 36K feet on our climb up. So nobody went hypoxic, no big deal, other than we had to head down low fairly quickly, it would have been a long ride back to Fairchild sucking a hose, what we call "p*#$y face". And nobody got sucked out of the BUFF, either.

 

[B00ridge]

fly320s


Yes, I've applied.

You'll have a good time.

 

[Blackcloud6]

Did you type that sitting on an adjustable desk chair? If so, maybe you should take it down to a safer altitude?

M67:

I don't think I ever fully recovered from the exercise!

For someone who's job requires a lot of writing, I'm still all thumbs at the keyboard.

 

[AZLibertarian]

Michiganfan

AZ are you the pilot in the picture going around the net showing the airline pilot leaving his home carrying the 50 caliber rifle

No. I've seen the picture you're refering to, but that is not me. I'd like to own/shoot a .50 cal., but that will have to wait until after the OffspringofAZLib are done with college. While I enjoy looking at everyone's pictures here on the web, I have a policy of not putting up a picture that includes at least two of these things: My face, a gun, my uniform. My guess is that the guy in the photo you're refering to was 'talked' to by his supervisor.

H&Hhunter

Az...have you ... applied to the FFDO program yet? Are you going to?

No, I haven't. I have mixed feelings about the program, and until I sort those out, I'll stay outside.

 

[Fly320s]

ATC1Man wrote:

Hey you been to SLC lately?

Yep. I was there in mid-December. Spent the day skiing at Alta. What a fantastic ski area!

I'll be back in early Feb, too.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Maybe he figured they were too flimsy and would create more problems than they would solve.

AZ,

I do too but I applied anyway. I figured if notthing else it'll be good training.