Emergency Passenger Oxygen Systems

Abstract

With modern air liners flying at altitudes of 20,000 ft. or more, the question of passenger safety in the event of pressure cabin failure has become a real problem. Should failure occur, the Captain of an air liner flying over the sea, or difficult country, would have to decide between exposing his passengers to the anoxic effects of high altitude or of accepting the increased fuel consumption which would result from flight at a lower altitude.An Emergency Passenger Oxygen System to enable the flight to continue at an altitude where fuel consumption would not be excessive has been developed recently by the Walter Kidde Co. Ltd. in conjunction with the Scott Aviation Corporation of America. The Mask Presentation Units included with this system are unobtrusively located in the luggage rack and, in the event of pressure cabin failure, an oxygen mask is automatically presented in front of the head of each passenger. It is then only necessary for the passenger to pull the mask on to his face to obtain a supply of oxygen at sufficient flow to safeguard him until the aircraft has been brought down to a lower altitude. In addition, each Presentation Unit includes an attachment point for medicinal or therapeutic oxygen, which is independent of the emergency system, and from which a supply is always available. Leakage from these points when not in use is prevented by self-sealing outlets. The Presentation Units are easily removable for overhaul purposes, and can be adjusted for a change of seat layout. A manually operated cock enables a crew member to operate the system if necessary. Fig. 1 illustrates the system in use.