A pilot has gone viral on TikTok after sharing the ‘most important’ thing to do when the oxygen masks drop down on a plane during an emergency – and it turns out, it’s not what most people think
Travelling can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially when it involves flying.
Despite the minimal risk of accidents – with rates declining to historic lows each year according to Boeing – some travellers still feel anxious.
To help alleviate these fears, an airline pilot has taken it upon himself to explain what to do in case of an emergency on a plane. In a video, he highlights the importance of paying attention to flight attendants’ safety instructions.
“Most people are familiar with the announcement ‘in the event of an emergency and the oxygen masks come down, reach above and pull down the oxygen mask and put your mask on before helping others’,” he starts. He then emphasises the significance of pulling down on the oxygen mask, debunking the common misconception that each seat has an oxygen tank above it.
The reality is more complex, involving a chemical reaction that provides passengers with oxygen.
The pilot revealed the surprising truth behind airplane oxygen masks, dispelling common myths about onboard safety features. “The reality is oxygen bottles inside aircrafts, 99% of them are actually a solid chemical ration,” he claimed.
“I’m not a biochemical engineer or some chemist, but essentially it’s a sodium chlorate type of mixture where when you pull down on the oxygen mask, you release a firing pin that creates a small explosion that ignites the candle that burns, and the byproduct is oxygen.”
He added, “So above your seat is a much more complex mechanism of you pull down, you fire this off and then it starts burning to give you oxygen. It’s not just some bottle of oxygen sitting above you.”
He further explained the necessity of actually pulling on the oxygen masks to initiate the chemical reaction before securing them on your face.
He continued: “And since it’s just a burn, it doesn’t last very long, which you don’t necessarily need it for extended periods of time, because essentially if the aircraft were to decompress at a high altitude, there wouldn’t be enough oxygen concentration for you to remain conscious for very long. So that’s why it’s important for you to put your oxygen mask on in the event it comes down.”
While acknowledging the process might seem daunting, the expert reassured passengers that the oxygen mask is only required for a few minutes until pilots can descend to 10,000 feet where there would be enough oxygen to breath without any help from the masks.
However, the pilot also warned of a safety risk associated with keeping the mask on for an extended period, explaining: “The byproduct of this [method] would be the heat. So there are probably a lot of smoke, and so yeah, it’s a lot more complex than just pulling down, putting on oxygen, and breathing.”
Despite the pilot’s guidance, some people expressed concern in the comments about how hard to pull. “Can you pull on it too hard? I’d be afraid of yanking the tube off in a moment of panic,” one person asked.
Another user responded: “The hose is folded and the activation pin is at the fold. When you pull hard enough the hose is now 3x longer than it was. You’re not pulling on the end of the hose, just the middle.”
A second person added: “Wait lol why does this feel like the most important part but we’re never told this.”