Amelia Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 What if you get sucked out of a plane? Size of a hole determines how dangerous the situation will become By Emily Sohn Discovery News 4/8/2011 The hole that ripped through the ceiling of a commercial airplane at cruising altitude last week may, for some, have brought to mind the pilot of the TV show "Lost." In that dramatic episode, an airplane breaks in half, and passengers go flying through a gaping hole in the fuselage. For passengers on Southwest flight 812, the consequences were far milder: Soon after its takeoff from Phoenix, the plane made an emergency landing, and everyone was fine. But people have been hurled through holes in cruising airplanes before. And that raises an important, if gruesome question: What would happen to you if you were sucked into the atmosphere at 30,000 feet? The prognosis, experts say, would not be good "There are a number of critical physiological problems that would be life-ending, likely within seconds," said Peter Wagner, a physician and physiologist at the University of California, San Diego. "Forget about the fact that you don’t have a parachute. You would be instantly exposed to very, very low oxygen levels. Within three or four seconds, my guess is that you would be breathing like hell." Loss of consciousness and death would soon follow purely from oxygen deprivation to the brain, Wagner continued. At the same time, temperatures of -70 degrees Fahrenheit (-57 degrees Celsius) — made even colder by the chill of 500 mile-per-hour (805 kilometer-per-hour) winds — would lead to rapid freezing, beginning with the skin, eyes and other surface tissues. In response to such extreme stress, your nervous system would go haywire, leading to potentially fatal spikes in blood pressure and heart rate. And the sudden change in air pressure would lead to a nasty case of the bends, as if you were scuba diving and came up too fast. Read the rest Quote <p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">"Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you."</span></span> Eph 4:29</span><br><br><img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/gizmotimetemp_both/US/OR/Fairview.gif" alt="Fairview.gif"> Fairview Or</p>
Members phkrause Posted April 9, 2011 Members Posted April 9, 2011 What if you get sucked out of a plane? Size of a hole determines how dangerous the situation will become By Emily Sohn Discovery News 4/8/2011 I guess you'd be out of luck. :) Quote phkrause When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29;2
Moderators LynnDel Posted April 9, 2011 Moderators Posted April 9, 2011 I suppose that is reassuring, Amelia. You wouldn't really have time for anything like fear or dread. But I wonder -- how long does it take for a falling body to drop 30,000 feet, or at least to reach sufficient air? It seems like you'd be barely flash frozen before you'd thaw out again. When I flew from Phoenix to Sacramento this week, the first half hour of the trip was very rough, and I could see a little panic building up in the passengers. As for me, I could not put the numbers in the correct Sudoku boxes because the plane would drop or jerk just as I put my pen to the paper. Ld Quote LD
Moderators Nan Posted April 9, 2011 Moderators Posted April 9, 2011 Sounds like you would have plenty of discomforts to think about! Doors have fallen off planes inflight before http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/Aircraft_Wire/AgingWiresR3.html Not very reassuring, can just hope that the wiring is kept in good order. Quote
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