Imagine you've just taken off from Seattle on your way to Burbank when you suddenly hear a loud bang and the oxygen masks drop down in front of everyone's faces. What would you do? Personally, I think I'd have remained pretty calm -- as long as I'm not seeing fire or pieces of aluminum flying past the window outside.

A loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal. The pilots executed a rapid descent, as they should. In the time it took the MD-80 to descend from 26,000 ft to more breathable air, the passengers probably didn't even need to don the masks. I've been to 18,000 feet without O2. I can't say I enjoyed it, and I wouldn't have wanted to stay there more than the 5 or so minutes I did, but it didn't kill me. When I read quotes like, "It was absolutely the scariest thing I've ever had to go through in my entire life. I felt like I was lucky to be alive.", I think, boy, this guy doesn't get out much. Or perhaps the truth is more likely, like most people, he has an inherent fear of flying. Anything that happens out of the ordinary scares the bejesus out of him.

And in case you're wondering was I was doing at 18,000 ft without oxygen, I was jumping out of the aircraft. So maybe I'm not one to be judging other people's fear of flying...