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Old 25th Jan 2001, 21:43
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Pilot1113
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I just have nit-pick here for a moment. Payne Stewart's aircraft didn't suffer an "explosive decompression."

It was more like a gradual decompression. Most likely the crew didn't realize they were suffering the symptoms of hypoxia and thus didn't take the action required.

At any rate, that's all speculation. What I want to point out is that the fog (that probably led to the explosive decompression theory) that formed was probably due to the fact that as the air escaped the pressure dropped and the moisture condensed. The -70 temperatures (I think that's the correct temp, but correct me if I'm wrong) then froze the condensation leading to the frosted windows.

The reason why I know that there wasn't a explosive decompression is rather simple: the structural integerty of the aircraft wasn't compromised. In an explosive decompression scenario, there would have been (most likely) a gaping hole in the aircraft.

Sorry, I have to nit-pick, it's a bad habit of mine!

- Neil Harrison