Mick Gilbert reckons that many of the 239 people on board MH370 would have been dead in 20 to 25 minutes, according to a report in the news.com.au. “The cause was hypoxia (low oxygen) following depressurisation.”
He does not rule out the possibility that at least one pilot may have survived, having recognised the early signs of hypoxia.
The pilot, faced with dwindling supplies of oxygen, and only able to occupy the cockpit for short periods of time, could have steered the plane away from civilisation.
“The pilot just pointed the plane in the safest direction and let it run out of fuel,” believes Gilbert.
Basically, he claims. MH370, a Boeing 777-200, was at risk of a windshield fire or failure.
Also, there are indications the crew oxygen system was leaking.
The initial deviation from the flight plan, added Gilbert, was consistent with the response to an in-flight emergency like a windshield heater fire.
“A windshield heater fire can explain both the loss of the transponder signal and the interruption to the satellite communication link,” said Gilbert.
He believes it was the fire that caused the plane to head towards Penang.
He cites examples from the late 1990s and 2000s of windshield heaters failing or catching fire – Emirates B777 in July 2008, Alitalia B777 in 2003, and Air France in 2002.
There were at least 39 windshield heater problems between 2002 and 2014, says Gilbert, with eight fires involving B777s.
He says maintenance work on the oxygen system on MH370, on Jan 14, 2014, may have contributed to it dropping in psi quicker than usual.
“The crew oxygen system was leaking in the months leading up to the disappearance,” says Gilbert.
If the oxygen level in the atmosphere goes up two per cent, he continues, the gas is not flammable but “fires in areas rich in oxygen are harder to put out”.
What all this means, he says,is rapid depressurisation in the cockpit.
Apparently, the change in pressure would have unlocked the door connecting the cockpit and the passenger cabin, resulting in the latter depressurising as well.