Scott Paradis


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  • "There's some other glaring design flaws that I just cannot help but point out:1. The mystery plastic bag... which "may or may not inflate even though oxygen is flowing". THe normal state for it to be deflated. But WHY? As far the mask user is concerned, the bag serves no visible purpose and just adds confusion to the system. In fact, seeing something that looks like it *should* inflate on a device meant to be filled air probably makes the user believe that it *will* inflate. I suspect that the bag is designed to capture possible excess oxygen flow from the chemically-generated o2 systems overhead, which probably don't have the most predictable flow rates. But given that the bag neither conveys that purpose, nor is the inflated state reflective of the operational status of the system, it is simply getting in the way (obstructing vision and possibly airways), and likely confuses a lot of people as well. Certainly there's a better way to provide overflow capacity (or whatever it does) without dangling a bag in front of my face. 2. The elastic bands. First, these bands have to be pulled down and away from your face, near the nose, to tighten. How many people do you think get confused when they can't tighten these things? A lot. So they end up just cramming and holding the mask to their faces (look at the Southwest photo.. LOTS of people holding these masks in place!). This creates a couple problems, notably, the loss of use of a hand, which can create a cascade of other problems, like paralyzing fear of losing your mask, for starters. We already know the size range of the human head. Creating a strap that is elastic enough to be one-size fit all is not that difficult. Sure, the guy with a size 10 head might be a little tight, but as long as the strap doesn't break or impede the function of the mask, I'm sure he'll be fine with it being tighter rather than loose. And size 10 heads usually have size 20 arms (Barry Bonds?), so if they have to pull a little harder to get their mask on, it's not going to be difficult for them as compared to say, a child with a very small head.3. Activation. Users have to "pull down to activate the oxygen flow". How many people do you think forget to do this critical step? You see, these are chemically generated o2 systems because it's terribly unsafe to store pressurized, highly-flammable o2 on a plane. A pressurized system like that also has lots of failure points and maintenance costs. By instead using solid-state chemicals that, when combined, create heat and oxygen, a more more shelf-stable and predictable system can be created. Except for one major flaw: for some reason, they decided the individual end user should be responsible for pulling down to mechanically activate a firing pin which combines the chemicals and start the reaction. Now granted, this is probably a reliability concern, as you don't wan't 300 little motors and pressure switches that can each fail. But the supply tubes now have to be a fixed length.. short enough that the user must pull it down to reach their face. This not only doesn't work for short people and children who can't reach, but it restricts the mobility of a capable passenger from assisting anywhere beyond the reach of their tubing. The whole system already pops open at once from overhead. I expect that those release latches are a mechanical (cable?) control. Pulling the latch pins should pull the activation pins, too. Keep user out of the equation."
    on: Is That Airplane Oxygen Mask Photo an Example of Stupidity or Bad Design?
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