Don't remember if the a/c was already out of fuel when the flight attendant entered the flightdeck or if there was still some fuel left. If it was not I guess it would be a touch task to bring the a/c down safely even for a real pilot depending on how close the nearest airport was of course and at what altitude the a/c was.I guess if you try to find a good thing in this accident that would be the a/c crashed into a hill/mountain rather than into a habited area.

I believe there was some fuel remaining when he entered the flight deck. The plane was already holding over Athens. But again, hypoxia didn't allow him to do anything. IIRC, he managed to disconnected the autopilot. I believe that's why the airplane started doing some those shallow turns we hear the F-16 pilot reporting.I also agree that, if we were to find something good in this accident, the fact it didn't hit a habited area is that good thing. The other good thing is that everyone on board that plane had a painless death. You don't even realize that hypoxia is attacking you. Now you're awake, in the next minute you've passed out. Just like that. When the plane hit the ground and they effectively died, they were inconcient.

Wouldn't they regain conscientiousness after the plane descended?

No, as the aircraft descends with about 1500fpm they do not have enough time left.Also it's hard for me to beleave that they were even alive because in my lessons for the PPL I've learned that you'll die within a few minutes above FL240. And the aircraft was far above that! And that for a few hours. The flight attendent in the cockpit could have only survived because he had some extra oxigen in a bottle with him.Does anyone have an explanation why the humans onboard did not die from the hypoxia?

It's a fixed password I guess. Every airplane should have their own, but because the flight attendant was confused due to hypoxia, he probably couldn't remember the numbers.

Post 9-11 locked cabin doors, how do you figure out the access password to the cockpit? I'm just wondering if there was easier access perhaps he could have made it quicker to the yoke and stabilised the aircraft.

From what I understand, the passwords are verbal, and communicated person to person (crew -> flight deck). The pilots are the only checks for that password, so if they were unconscious, there was no way in. They were the only ones who could unlock it from the inside. Basically, the crew would say the password to the pilots to authenticate themselves (prove they were crewmembers), and if it was the valid password, the pilot would unlock the door.Putting a combination lock on a cockpit door is a bit risky if the password were compromised.

There is a combination lock of sorts, plus some redundant systems.I don't think I'm allowed to divulge anymore,I can just say there is a way in, which can be blocked from inside the flight deck.About the hypoxia... I'm not sure if this was the case,but if the outflow valve was not fully open, the cabin altitude may have been between 14.000 and 24.000 feet, a zone in which you'll pass out, but you can survive with a lot of luck.

Edited January 25, 201214 yr by KriVa

No, as the aircraft descends with about 1500fpm they do not have enough time left.

Theoretically, all he needed to do was dial 10000 on the mcp and hit LVL CHG. But that is easy to say in retrospect and from my safe, 900ft-ish oxygen level.

There is a combination lock of sorts, plus some redundant systems.I don't think I'm allowed to divulge anymore,I can just say there is a way in, which can be blocked from inside the flight deck.

Come on now, this is hardly a national secret. I believe the basic switch is even in the NGX, and it definitely is on other top tier addon planes. Basically a three-position switch, goes something like open/closed/deny.What I gather open is open, grab a handle and walk in, closed is use a password, or similar, deny is you are not going in.

Nope, that's not the one Fabo ;-)

In that case I do not think I know what are you talking about.

The system I am talking about has not been modeled on the PMDG NGX, don't worry.

No, as the aircraft descends with about 1500fpm they do not have enough time left.Also it's hard for me to beleave that they were even alive because in my lessons for the PPL I've learned that you'll die within a few minutes above FL240. And the aircraft was far above that! And that for a few hours. The flight attendent in the cockpit could have only survived because he had some extra oxigen in a bottle with him.Does anyone have an explanation why the humans onboard did not die from the hypoxia?

As the cabin altitude increased above 14,000' the oxygen masks in the passenger cabin would have automatically deployed. Any passenger who had paid attention to the safety briefing would have placed the mask over their nose and mouth, adjusted the strap and breathed normally... and then spent the 30 or so minutes of oxygen that system can supply wondering what the hell was going on....

As the cabin altitude increased above 14,000' the oxygen masks in the passenger cabin would have automatically deployed. Any passenger who had paid attention to the safety briefing would have placed the mask over their nose and mouth, adjusted the strap and breathed normally... and then spent the 30 or so minutes of oxygen that system can supply wondering what the hell was going on....

Yes, that was exactly what happened according to the reconstruction of the accident I watched on TV...poor souls...

You cannot blame the mechanics,unless there was a written procedure,or job card to return the selector to auto,after the job task/troubleshooting was performed.It's up to the flight crew to use the checklists, to ensure everything is configured correctly.

Edited January 26, 201214 yr by BIGSKY

After watching the program and hearing what you real pilots had to say it sounds like even though the switch was left in the manual position by the maintenance personnel the responsibility was on the first officer who overlooked the checklist.One example of a basic procedure that could have saved an a/c full of lives.

Yea the strange part was when the pilot radioed back to the base maintenance asking for advice, and when the guy from mainteneance asked if the switch was in manual or in auto but the pilot misunderstood the request thinking he was talking about the takeoff warning horn. Then things turned for the worse from then onwards.

According to wiki:Families of the dead filed a lawsuit against Boeing on 24 July 2007. Their lawyer, Constantinos Droungas, said "Boeing put the same alarm in place for two different types of dysfunction. One was a minor fault, but the other - the loss of oxygen in the cockpit - is extremely important". He also said that similar problems had been encountered before on Boeings in Ireland and Norway. The families are claiming 76 million euros in compensation from Boeing.[30]In the 737-800 have the alarms changed?

There is a combination lock of sorts, plus some redundant systems.I don't think I'm allowed to divulge anymore,I can just say there is a way in, which can be blocked from inside the flight deck.

Kriva, are you a real world 737 pilot?