Originally Posted by
Pontius Navigator
PS, there were two of us talking about it. The 'as normal chatting' would have been as perceived by the subject. Trust me when I say they would have been talking scribble as well as writing it.
I was usually one of the first back on oxygen and saw some trying ineffectually to stop the doctor putting their mask back on. You see their pencil 'scribbling' but in reality just doing nothing.
Automatic reflexes no chance.
That was me in the decompression chamber with a compatriot who appeared to be unaffected until we checked - remember this was just over 30 seconds - he was writing perfectly neat garbage and was not 'responsive' to the instructor who got his O2 back on rapidly. I cannot see anyone at 35,000 with hypoxia doing/saying anything sensible after a few seconds.
It would be most instructive to know what the controller said to the crew, a chatty non-standard handoff could get an "alright goodnight" in response.