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By Daniel Baxter |
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March 12, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Transportation's
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently required
the nation's airlines to disable the oxygen generators
located in all aircraft lavatories to eliminate a
potential safety and security vulnerability. The
airlines completed the work on the 6,000 aircraft in the
The FAA, along with other federal agencies, identified
and validated the potential threat, then devised a
solution that could be completed quickly.
In
order to protect the traveling public, the FAA
eliminated the problem before making the work public.
Had the FAA publicized the existence of this security
vulnerability prior to airlines fixing it, thousands of
planes across the Rapid decompression events on commercial aircraft are extremely rare. If there is a sudden loss of cabin pressure, pilots are already trained to guide the aircraft to a safe, breathable altitude as quickly as possible. Flight attendants are also already trained to assist passengers to quickly access oxygen - including those in the lavatories. |
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Above the passenger seats are Passenger Service Units (PSU). These typically contain reading lights, air vents, and a flight attendant call light. The PSU will also normally contain the drop-down oxygen masks which are activated if there is a sudden drop in cabin pressure.
These are
supplied with oxygen by means of a chemical oxygen generator. By
using a chemical reaction rather than a connection to an oxygen
tank, these devices supply breathing oxygen for long enough for
the airliner to descend to thicker, more breathable air.
Oxygen
generators do generate considerable heat in the process. Because
of this, the oxygen generators are thermally shielded and are
only allowed in commercial airliners when properly installed ?
they are not permitted to be loaded as freight on
passenger-carrying flights.
ValuJet
Flight 592 crashed on May 11, 1996 as a result of improperly
loaded chemical oxygen generators. |
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