txapacheguy
Contributor
I think you are correct on both accounts. The reason I used the 10,000' mountains as an example for the flying/driving rule is simply to illustrate that someone planning to continue decompressing while in flight might wind up screwed even with a best case scenario following the loss of cabin pressure. 10,000 feet is the altitude that a jet without cabin pressurization is likely to attempt to descend to if able. That 2,000' difference is what I was getting at.
Also, I agree that couple of guys/gals in a slick fighter/trainer jet can probably come out of altitude quicker than a 747. A descent from 30,000 to 10,000' is a 20,000' change in altitude which would obviously require a 10,000 foot per minute rate of descent. That rate of descent would be pretty easy to obtain and sustain in a fighter jet, but I am not sure a passenger jet with nearly 200 people onboard would make that two minute descent. Guys on here that fly the "heavies", please correct me if I am wrong...
Either way, I am glad that I am not the first person to see a potential problem due to an unexpected loss of cabin pressure in flight following a dive. It is also reassuring that there were no recorded instances of DCS during the research you mentioned...
