I think FL meant metres. I have not found the complete inquest report, but in this excerpt:
"Pathologist Colin Hunter-Craig, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Alberto, told the court that the boys would have died minutes after take-off as oxygen levels plummeted.
He said both boys suffered injuries consistent with a fall but would have died after slipping into unconsciousness. He said: "I surmise they died on the way up. This aircraft climbed to 37,000ft in 20 minutes. That's higher than Everest.
"Some climbers can reach the top of Everest without oxygen but they adjust slowly. If you go up as suddenly as these boys did you don't have time to adjust. They died through lack of oxygen or hypoxia.
"They would have just fallen asleep. They would not have been aware of what was going on. To be whipped up that high so fast would be disastrous."
There is also a quote from the investigating officer, mentioning the presence of a "hot air pipe" within the wheel bay. However it also repeats the assertion that the temperature would have reached -57C, but does not say how this was determined.
Last edited by newswatcher; 16th Apr 2002 at 07:55.