DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

I find it difficult to believe what most people are taking for granted, that the little dog's death in the overhead bin was due to asphyxiation.

Anyone with direct knowledge of partial pressures, small spaces, small openings care to make comment.

According to one article (Gizmondo) United offered an autopsy (called a necropsy, I think), demonstrating that they are not convinced the dog suffocated.

There are standards for "enclosed spaces", but I'm not highly informed about them, and they sometimes involve gasses other than air.

Lastly, are airplane cabins already oxygen poor?

ryansmoneypit

iTrader: (6)

I think it had more to do with brachycephalic dog breeds . cant regulate body temp, cant breath well. They fart a lot.


Brachycephalic syndrome is a pathological condition affecting short nosed dogs and cats which can lead to severe respiratory distress. There are four different anatomical abnormalities that contribute to the disease, all of which occur more commonly in brachycephalic breeds: an elongated soft palate, stenotic nares, a hypoplastic trachea, and everted laryngeal saccules (a condition which occurs secondarily to the other abnormalities). Because all of these components make it more difficult to breathe, in situations of exercise, stress, or heat, an animal with these abnormalities may be unable to take deep or fast enough breaths to blow off carbon dioxide. This leads to distress and further increases respiratory rate and heart rate, creating a vicious circle that can quickly lead to a life-threatening situation.

G3ML1NGZ

overhead bins are not airtight, not even close. And the air pressure and oxygen content is kept ~8000ft.

I'd go with Ryan's explanation.

LukeG

Pugs, bulldogs, french bulldogs... all can die from stress/exertion and breathing like posted above. Regardless, would you put a child in the overhead bin? No, so why the hell would you tell someone to put a dog there? I feel bad for the family, if they had argued they would have been booted from the flight (or beaten and dragged off).

The airlines are all garbage these days. I was blown away last week when I got a simple USB charger in front of my seat in coach. USB has been around for how long?

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

Please don’t even start with dogs = humans.

G3ML1NGZ

Aircraft mechanic over here.

You can not believe the amount of paperwork, certifications and modifications needed to change stuff in an airplane.

let's say that a change is being made, then the change is most likely being made over the entire fleet. For a large fleet it simply doesn't make any sense because the seat would have to be redesigned for it and then the entertainment system too since those would most likely be merged for less wiring and less weight.
That redesign would then have to be made by the seat manufacturer and then approved and tested by the aircraft manufacturer.

so you're looking at a new sets of seats running ~500k usd for a 757 without the entertainment system and then maybe a similar amount for the entertainment, a plane torn apart to modify/replace the wiring and then installation of new equipment plus added maintenance. now apply that fleetwide and you can see that changes happen slowly because you never just add it on. Every change requires a shitload of work.

We have a ton of additional stuff in our aircraft and I've gone through those modifications countless times.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I would put an infant in an overhead bin but not a dog. The dog belongs in checked baggage just like they have done for 70+ years.

If the inbred dog isn't fit for passenger cabin air travel then don't bring the fragile creature on an airplane and risk its life. Leave it safely at home or with a caregiver. I blame the neurotic owner who can't take a **** without a dog on her lap to make her feel her life has love.

z31maniac

Yep, I worked for Spirit Aerosystems for a brief period of time.

I remember having "unofficial" documentation on how to properly make certain parts. Because say a hole for a rivet is off by .090", the amount of paperwork, drawing changes, admitting they knew the part was incorrect.

Kind of shocking.