subject: Why Does Oxygen Drop From The Panel Above Seats On Planes [print this page] When you watch the safety instruction video you'll notice that at one point you're told how to affix an oxygen mask to yourself. Why do safety demonstration explain this, and what are the oxygen masks intended for?
Oxygen mask that you see when the safety video is being shown, or when the demonstration is happening are there, are there in case the pressure in the aircraft fails, for example if a door were to accidentally happen. This almost never happens. But if it were to happen then passenger would need to be able to breathe, so the oxygen masks are there for that purpose. Up so high, even on a short flights from New York to Ottawa or flights from Richmond to San Diego all planes are required to have this safety feature.
There is another theory about the oxygen masks. Some people claim that there are there in order to keep customers quiet when there is a problem. Oxygen makes you very light-headed in an enjoyable way and can distract you from the emergency that is happening. In an emergency situation such as being forced to land on water or finding that you need to make an emergency landing somewhere that isn't an airport it's not useful to have people going crazy and running around the aeroplane. So by explaining that they need oxygen, and by popping the oxygen mask out their overhead storage units, people are less inclined to panic.
Flights from San Jose to Boston are unlikely to ever run into a problem that requires oxygen masks but it's important that you know exactly how to wear one should the emergency arise. After all, they are there for your safety, and the pilots will also be wearing them. So take a few deep breaths and rely on the pilots' many years of experience.
