I'm not going to speculate, but as rapid decompression has been discussed, here is my tuppence worth.
Irrespective of what many here have stated, and despite how many times you practice in the sim, a rapid decompress at or above FL400 is certainly going to present any pilot with a major challenge. You can forget the procedure we are all ready for while sitting in our nice warm sim every six months, because the first sign of anything abnormal in real life is 100% for sure going to scare and confuse the cr@p out of you (quite probably, literally). There is one video posted previously that illustrates this very well....the pilot, who was fully prepared for the event, sat for about three or four seconds like a startled rabbit, and following this was unable to get his mask on without assistance. Again, this was someone who was fully ready and prepared to do only one thing....get his mask on!
It surprises me that some here are not able to imagine the physics behind what happens - all air suddenly expelled from your lungs, eardrums, and bodily cavities, and finding oneself shocked by the dramatic temperature reduction, terrible noise, fogged air and debris flying around the cockpit. Total confusion doesn't even begin to describe the state most of us would be in.
I would even go so far as to state that as airliners are now cruising at higher and higher levels compared with 30 years ago, a re-think on the rules is needed to get this uncomfortable elephant out of the room.
Last edited by deefer dog; 25th Mar 2015 at 13:58.
Reason: change of title