you wont die instantly, you'll faint. If you faint before you manage to put the mask on your child both of you will die but if you put yours on first, you will be able to save your child even if he/she has already fainted.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But yes, any real committed parent would be thinking about their kid first, and would die to save them, except that's not really the point.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Kinda hard to save your kid when you're passed out/dead.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This is why they make sure to tell you to put your mask on first, otherwise there would be a lot of dead devoted parents.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm pretty sure if a plane fell 20000 feet nobody would survive, just the people with masks on would be conscious before they died

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Most of the time planes don't fall, they glide. As long as the wings remain intact the plane can still glide for quite a while, even in if the engines completely fail. It wouldn't be a gentle landing, but given a clearing or a body of water and the landing is very survivable. And masks are used when there is a problem with cabin pressure or oxygen levels, not when the plane is about to crash, so if there is a pressure leak and the cabin is losing oxygen then yes the masks may save your life.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Great, now your dead and your kid will be too. Some devotion

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oxygen gets you high. In a catastrophic emergency, you're taking giant panicked breaths.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm not saying that they are going to save anyone. I am saying that if a parent were in that situation, whether the child will survive or not, they are still going to panic and think about the kid first, whether they die or not

by Anonymous 13 years ago

first of all, the masks are for cabin pressure and oxygen problems, NOT crashes. Some of these commenters are retarded. I'm not really decided here (i clicked the arrow by accident.) Either your you live without a child, or you child grows up with a dead parent. Hard choice, but I suppose I lean toward your opinion. At the least they get to keep their life.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

yes, most of these people are retarded. the masks are used for oxygen problems in the plane. the air is really thin at that hight, making it nearly impossible to breathe if it somehow became unpressurized (which is what the masks are for.) so yes, it is very, very possible to die in an unpressurized plane without a mask...rather quickly i suppose, considering the average person can only hold their breath for about 20-40 seconds. The post says nothing about the plane crashing. People need to read through it before they start "trying to make sense of it." and yes, in case you were wondering, a plane can have oxygen problems without crashing. read about it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The main point is that there if you only have enough oxygen to put on one mask before passing out you should put on your own mask. If you put your child's mask on, then you pass out and die. If you put on your own mask then your child passes out and you put the mask on him/her while they are unconscious. That way you both survive.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

what the hell?@496623 (LewisL): what the hell? so if you put on your childs mask on first, you die. but if you put on their mask first, you dont die you just pass out? that doesnt make any sense

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If you put your own mask on, you are conscious and able to put a mask on an unconscious child. You will both probably survive. If you put your child's mask on, you fall unconscious. Your child is fine but may be too young to put your mask on for you. In this case you soon die of asphyxiation.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I understand what you are saying. I'm saying that in a panicked situation like that, the parent is not thinking logically, so their first instinct would be to protect their child. I realize that the better thing to do would be to get your mask on, and then theirs. The point is is that that's not going to happen because, again, the parent isn't thinking about "logic," they are thinking about saving what is more important to them

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Some people have a cooler head. I don't think that to be a committed parent you have to lose all reason and forget all previous instruction at the first sign of trouble.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

you are obviously not a parent, and have never had problems on a plane

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Of course, I simply can't understand your unimaginable plight. Not everyone freaks out like that in those situations.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

you wouldnt know

by Anonymous 13 years ago