"Could something similar have happened to flight 370?"
In my opinion TGSE, no.
The aircraft had reached cruising altitude before its last position report (35,000 feet). At this altitude you can remain conscious after a sudden decompression for around 30 seconds, but the aircraft would have been climbing for some time to that altitude and would have passed the level at at which you become affected by low/loss of cabin pressure, quite a time earlier.
There are a few cabin altitude warning indicators in the cockpit, and in the passenger compartment 02 masks automatically deploy if the pressure drops below a set altitude (14,000 feet).
So the cabin pressure was OK at the last position report (normal) .
The flight you mentioned was strange in that everything was overlooked by the pilots.
As part of my jet training the course I was on were required to sit in a decompression chamber and undergo anoxia runs so that we would recognise the symptoms.
I do agree with you apropos "the Malaysian Authorities are as baffled as the general public and running around like healdess chooks, grabbing at any snippet of information they are offered"
It is just a pity that a basically uninformed media are promulgating aeronautical rubbish to a less knowledgeable audience, and now the conspiracy nuts, who know even less, (P007), are jumping on their keyboards to broadcast their particular brand of conspiracy rubbish.
Is it possible that "face" is possibly restricting the choice of those most capable to conduct SAR procedures of this magnitude / difficulty?
nษฅยบษพ
