[Tzfat]

A rapid depressurization would put the crew to a test, of which they only have seconds to pass.

True, but one that pilots have trained for since the dawn of the jet age. Aviation physiology is something we pilots are extremely well-versed in. Our O2 masks are inches from our heads, and we can don them in a less than a second in one motion. They are automatically pressurized the moment the handle is pulled and they wrap around our heads like an octopus automatically. We use them a lot.

Smoke, maybe. Structural failure (dead pilots), maybe. Hypoxia, unlikely.

[zipper]

Not less than a second, that's an exaggeration, but a few seconds is the standard.

Aviation physiology is something we pilots are extremely well-versed in.

Not civilian pilots, they don't get crucial altitude chamber training.

[maggief]

Uh oh...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/europe/germanwings-airbus-crash.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

PARIS — Rescuers resumed the difficult task of searching for the 150 victims of a deadly plane crash in the French Alps, as the search for clues was dealt a setback Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators said they had so far been unable to retrieve any data from the plane’s cockpit voice recorder, and the inquiry has been hampered further, an official said, by the discovery that the second black box, which was found on Wednesday, was severely damaged, and its memory card dislodged and missing.