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To: pcstel who wrote (104907)	9/17/2001 1:54:02 PM
From: FaultLine	Respond to of 152472

I was on a combat crew in the USAF in Vietnam. We had all been trained on how to recognize hypoxia and handle the low pressure situations causing it by actually experiencing these conditions during altitude chamber training sessions. A pilot can easily drop the pressure in just a few seconds to levels low enough to knock people out relatively quickly and safely. You get quite disoriented in a minute or so and then start to doze off. The decompression also drops the temperature very sharply (you know, PV=nRT <g>). In fact, in an explosive decompression experienced when a window pops out, the water vapor instantly condenses out in the below zero air and creates a rather dense fog. People with heart and lung problems might be adversely affected but it should only be a few minutes until control can be completely restored by the air crew. The pilot can also put the plane into a negative g situation, a long high arc, while waiting for the pressure effects to kick in -- a hijacker can't do too much when he is stuck to the ceiling. After everyone is snoozing, the air crew can very cautiously restrain the culprits and resume normal operation. Healthy people start feeling the effects of hypoxia above 12,00 -14,000 feet. At 30,00-50,000 feet the pressure and temperature effects can be quite profound. I suppose the hijackers might try to avoid this countermeasure by executing the plan when the plane is at less than say, 16,000 ft or so since the depressurization would not very effective at those levels. -FaultLine.

To: pcstel who wrote (104907)	9/18/2001 4:18:28 PM
From: Uncle Frank	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

>> I think it would take too long to simply depressurize the cabin and make everyone sleep/die due to lower oxygen... From today's San Jose Mercury News: www0.mercurycenter.com Pilots say they're ready to fight off hijackers <snip> The pilots' union -- whose president is on a new federal cockpit security task force -- also recommended depressurizing the airplane cabin and going into steep dives, climbs or banks to disable attackers. Depressurizing the cabin could cause people not wearing oxygen masks to pass out, said Mike Polay, an aviation safety professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz. uf