Like most people who travel on modern airplanes, you've probably spent quite a bit of time staring out the window at those lovely clouds, admiring the sunset and the beautiful scenery. And, like most people, you've probably pondered: what would happen if the window suddenly flew out?
The answer depends on the altitude you are at. You are still below 20,000 feet (1 foot is about 0.3 meters) if you just got on the plane not long ago, then you probably have nothing to do. At that altitude, you can still breathe air for half an hour before you pass out, and the pressure differential isn't that great, not enough to suck you out. It will definitely be a little cold, but as long as you're still wearing a t-shirt, it's not a big deal.
It can be a little noisy. The wind whistles in through the windows and turns the plane into the world's biggest bagpipe, so I'm afraid it's unlikely that you'll be able to call a flight attendant at this point. All in all, things were fine, much better than when the windows flew out at an altitude of 35,000 feet.
As people need to breathe, the air in the cabin of the plane will be pressurized at 7,000 feet. If you've flown to 35,000 feet and then the windows fly out, the plane will rapidly depressurize, which can cause a whole host of problems.
The first thing you notice is that all the gases in all the orifices of your body are being sucked out. And because those gases are moist, they condense and get sucked out as a mist. Everyone does this, so the whole plane is filled with a thick fog of condensation from the gases coming out of people's bodies. So disgusting.
Fortunately, the fog clears within seconds, because the air inside the plane is sucked out through the open window. Unfortunately, the window is not next to someone else, but next to you, so here comes the trouble. If you're sitting on the side of the aisle, which is two seats away from that window that's flying out, the wind will blow in the direction of that window from the outside at hurricane speed, but if you're wearing your seat belt you're fine, it won't blow you away. Unfortunately, if you happen to be sitting by the window, the wind speed there is 300 miles per hour (1 mile is about 1.6 kilometers), enough to pull you up from your seat with your seat belt on. (That's one of the disadvantages of sitting by the window instead of the aisle.) Another reason why that friend sitting on the side of the aisle would have been saved is that the windows on the plane are smaller than the width of a person's shoulders. Harvard University studies of the human body show that a person's shoulders, on average, are 18 inches (1 inch is about 2.5 centimeters) wide, while the windows of a Boeing 747 are only 15.3 inches high - so you don't get sucked out of the plane, you just get sucked to the window. This is good for everyone on the plane. The first is that you won't fall out of the plane, and for everyone else, your body becomes a plug that will work just fine. This will slow down the rate of air loss out of the plane so that people have time to put on their oxygen masks.
And your troubles are just beginning.
In this new environment you're in, the first change you're likely to notice is from the wind. The wind is pulling you at hundreds of miles per hour, causing your body to be squeezed against the cabin wall in a J-shape.
The second change you notice is the frigid temperatures. 35,000 feet up, the temperature there is -54 degrees Celsius. The temperature is so low that your nose will be frostbitten within seconds.
You may not have noticed the third problem, but it's this one that's deadly. In addition to the sudden drop in temperature, the change in air pressure was even more dramatic. At 35,000 feet, the air is so thin that with every breath you take, you don't get enough oxygen to survive, except you don't notice that you're suffocating. Your body can not monitor the situation of too little oxygen, the only thing that can make you feel breathless is too much carbon dioxide in your blood. So you continue to breathe as if nothing is wrong, but the problem is actually very serious. You have less than 15 seconds of waking time left, and then you pass out - and four minutes later you're brain dead.
The same goes for everyone else in the plane. After the windows fly off, they only have 15 seconds to put on their oxygen masks, and slower movement will cause them to pass out. If your body blocks the windows tightly enough, then the time may be a little longer than 15 seconds - but no more than 8 seconds longer, because after another 8 seconds, their brains will be too starved for oxygen gas and become confused and unable to make them put on the oxygen mask.
Let's review: at this point, most of your body is inside the plane, some of it is exposed outside the plane, your face will be squeezed against the plane's cabin wall, you are frostbitten, and you are on the verge of unconsciousness. But to your surprise, you're not dead yet, and if the pilot reacts quickly and drops the plane below 20,000 feet within four minutes, you may survive. We know this because it has happened.
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