"Dr. George O. Bizzigotti" wrote in message
...
|
| One aspect that I have not seen addressed in this thread is the fact
| that most oxygen systems can provide supplemental oxygen for a few
| minutes only (I dimly recall figures like 3-5 minutes, but that may be
| inaccurate). The pilots also need to get down to 10,000 feet within
| that time before everyone's oxygen generators run out.
|

It really does not matter. The worst that will happen is that some people
will pass out, but it would be life threatening only to a very frail person.
As the airplane descends the time of useful consciousness increases rapidly,
so that oxygen would really only be needed for the first few minutes of
descent.