Rapid D

I had my first rapid decompression a few days ago. We were cruising at FL180 and all of a sudden WHOOOOSHHHH. There was wind in the cockpit, it got about 10-15 degrees cooler, and fog formed. (For those that have been through altitude chamber training, it feels just like that. Open a bottle of soda quickly and notice the sound and the fog that forms in the top of the bottle. Same thing, bigger soda bottle.) Everyone did a bit of a doubletake and went for the quick don oxygen masks, and flipped the regulator to 100% O2, EMERGENCY, which delivers 100% oxygen to the mask under pressure. The pilot started an emergency descent while the co-pilot got on the radio and informed ATC that we had a rapid decompression and was declaring an emergency and was descending from FL180 to 10,000. We landed safely. What an experience.

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