Here is a column I wrote on the Qantas affair….
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2008/08/01/285/

Patrick Smith

“In the cabin, pulling the mask towards you pulls out a firing pin that sets off a percussion cap that starts a chlorate core burning at 400 degrees F and that produces oxygen.

The pilots have tanks of oxygen though.”

This is true. Some MX friends of mine tell me this process creates funny smelling O2. You may also remember that it was pax O2 generators improperly stored in the fwd cargo compartment on that Value Jet that caused a fire and resulted in a crash in the everglades.

As for the flightdeck’s tanked oxygen, taking a few hits of it helps with a hangover. Or so I’ve been told.

In the cabin, pulling the mask towards you pulls out a firing pin that sets off a percussion cap that starts a chlorate core burning at 400 degrees F and that produces oxygen.

The pilots have tanks of oxygen though.

Brian – Hmm, can we borrow one of your planes to “plunge” 26,000 feet and test this thing out?!?

How many ‘papers do you think they are going to sell with headlines like: “Everybody calm as airliner descends to safe altitude”.

This morning I saw a report of the Qantas ‘challenge’ with their Oxygen bottle. Apparently when it ‘exploded’ it blew a ‘car-sized’ hole in the fuselage.