Malaysia Airlines loses contact with B777-200 / MH370 enroute from KUL to PEK

Sorry, that's not correct. The oxygen for the passengers is produced by a chemical reaction that cannot be stopped. The oxygen flows through all masks - not matter if they are used or not. The oxygen-generator will be depleted after 13 mins. minimum.
Bottles are only used for the flightcrew.

 

The stewards always say you have to pull/tug them down to start the oxygen flowing so I'm not sure you are right here ... ?
Pete

 

I hate to sound argumentative, but what you say simply isn't true. This is not a matter of opinion, it's an easily proven fact. Some of what you say applies to the DC-10, MD-11, MD-80, AND L1011 aircraft, to name some, but not any Boeing aircraft that I'm familiar with and certainly not the 777 and that's the aircraft under discussion here.

I've flown some of these aircraft and I've been certified by the FAA to teach systems ground school on some of them as well. I doubt if I would have received such a certification if I didn't know how the oxygen system works. You're free to make stuff up because this is the internet where anyone can say anything they like, but I assure you that you are mistaken.

The DC-10 and MD11 for example have chemical oxygen canisters in the overhead which are triggered when the first mask of the group is pulled down. A string releases a striker, not unlike a hand grenade actually. That starts a chemical reaction producing oxygen to all masks in the group even if only one is pulled down. The L1011 is a little bit different. When the masks on the 1011 are triggered all canisters in the overhead are ignited and oxygen flows to all masks on the aircraft even if you don't pull one down.

This chemical oxygen generation system is cheap and light but it has potential dangers and scares the heck out of the passengers because the canisters produce heat (lots of it), noxious fumes, and smoke. Remember masks are deployed by accident much more frequently than for real. If, for example, the pilot makes a hard landing and the masks fall out, as soon as someone activates their mask everyone else thinks the aircraft is on fire; not good.

These chemical oxygen canisters typically burn for 15 minutes, but there are canisters of longer and shorter duration.

Boeing, on the other hand, uses a bottled oxygen system to supply emergency oxygen for passenger use, contrary to what you say. Believe me or not,........... I really don't care. But if you're curious about the truth, a quick check with Google will prove informative.

 

Okay. Whatever you say...
The last Boeing aircraft with Oxy-bottles for passengers I flew was the 737-200, about 20 years ago. The next generation was equipped with canisters for weight and maintenance reasons... I also know for sure that the airline I fly for uses them also on 747-400 and 747-8... Can't speak for 777 though as they do not have any.
But hey, maybe it's up to the operator and we here in Germany use the chemical system while in the States the bottles are still in use...

 

I stand corrected. I was told by a reliable source that the Malaysian 777 used gaseous oxygen for the passenger emergency supply. I did some further research and you are indeed right. It used oxygen generators at each seat.

I owe you and the other readers of this forum my sincere apology. Open mouth, insert foot, and all that. I'm truly sorry and embarrassed to have made an incorrect statement, especially having made it so emphatically.

 

There is a lot of data collected you never hear about...its going back through that data that takes time...

 

I wouldn't take it to heart. As a non-pilot, who's obsessed with planes and just waiting for the right time to start my PPL, I love reading the back and forth between you pros. It's really a treat every day.

As punishment though you're going to have to start a thread to share some of your Navy pics.

 

This is a true statement, Boeing uses bottled oxygen for passengers.

 

Ah, but it sounds like you fly for Lufthansa, and yes, they do have 777s (albeit freighters).

 

Yes, but they don't have passenger-oxygen in those freighters
But they will get the 777-X in 2020, I will check then

 

I bet LH wishes they had a fleet of 777's. Those A340's do love fuel.

 

Right It was more like a political descision for the Airbuses back in the days when LH was owned by the state...

 

Hell, LF is still running their 737-500s which shocked me to see (when I was in Birmingham last month). LF gets all the use it can out of their aircraft.

 

The 500's are the newer ones They were built in the early 90's. They still fly 300's from the late 80's but scheduled to leave the latest by 2016. No more Boeing shorthaul then

 

The 777 has both systems available, maybe not on the same plane, but it could be either one.

 

Don't forget - Lufthansa was the launch customer for the original 737-100, a looooong time ago!

 

currently, no theories are proving correct and no new facts/data for a few days.

 

A lot of past and current ATPs here ---- so let me ask all of you this....

Do they keep any emergency parachutes (for the crew) on any commercial aircraft these days ?

 

I doubt if they kept any parachutes on any airliner since before World War II. Maybe well before...

Think about it-- how would you use a parachute from any jet airliner?

True, in the old 727s and DC-9s, you could de-pressurize and lower the airstair... but, as my old aerobatics instructor once told me, if you have enough control to do that, you don't need to bail out!

And, no modern airliners have anything like that airstair anyway.

 

Being reported now that MH370 had lithium batteries in the cargo hold.....

Do we have another UPS6 incident on our hands ??

MH370 WAS carrying highly flammable lithium batteries admits CEO of Malaysian Airlines | Mail Online

 

It's my understanding (there's an IATA DGR reg on this somewhere you could look up) that limits the maximum amount to some 66 lbs or so in the cargo hold on commercial flights ----- so that's gotta be a heck of a lot less than the UPS cargo plane was loaded with. Malay authorities have also stated that the batteries onboard MH370 complied with regulations --- for packaging ---- so I would assume that includes the max amount restriction too. Are they lying / withholding <or> was there more in the cargo hold (illegally) than they knew about ?? Who knows.... at this point.

 

russians say secret cargo was from ''mersk alabama'' guarded by 2 former ''navy SEALS,and we took plane to ''our secret airbase'' in diego garcia

 

Means absolutely nothing

 

There has been a bit of talk about cargo, do you have the link to that story?