How long can you survive at 40000 feet?

At 40,000 feet its only 2.72 PSI. If outside air gets into the mask and is breathed, it contains one-fifth (20 percent) of the oxygen necessary for survival at 40,000 feet. The time of useful consciousness on ambient air only at 40,000 feet is 15 to 20 seconds.



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Most commercial airplanes have a certified maximum altitude of about 40,000 to 45,000 feet. Regardless of its certified maximum altitude, if an airplane flies too high, it may fail in one or more ways. For starters, the engine may suffocate from a lack of oxygen.

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Severe turbulence, he added, is “quite rare — only 0.1% of the atmosphere at 40,000 feet has severe turbulence in it, so if you're on a plane it's very unlikely that your plane will hit that 0.1%.” “However, given the number of planes in the skies, one of them will.

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Using Pressure Equipment At sea level, the atmospheric pressure is 14.7 PSI. At 40,000 feet its only 2.72 PSI. If outside air gets into the mask and is breathed, it contains one-fifth (20 percent) of the oxygen necessary for survival at 40,000 feet.

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There is no specific distance from which a person can fall and have it said they will survive or not survive. There are simply too many variables that will dominate the factor of distance. In 1971, flight attendant Vesna Vulovic fell 10,160 meters (~33,300 ft) and survived without a parachute.

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Even if you enter feet-first in a straight, vertical line, and like a pencil, that impact can be strong enough to compress your spine, break bones, or give you a concussion. The force of the water can knock people unconscious on impact, and even if you survive, you may drown.

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Planes are *optimized* to fly at certain heights to maximize the efficiency of their engines and their fuel consumption. So jet planes can fly a lot higher than propeller planes, so they do. They fly between 20,000 feet and 40,000 feet because they are designed and optimized to do just that.

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A major reason for flying at that altitude is money; After labor, fuel is the greatest expense for airlines. That's why airlines are constantly working to maximize their fuel efficiency. Cruising at 36,000 feet helps with that. The higher altitude means thinner air.

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