People can’t believe that oxygen masks on planes aren’t connected to an air tank at all

People are shocked to learn that oxygen masks on airplanes are not connected to an air tank.

A TikTok from @JoeSpinsTheGlobe explained that the oxygen supplied to these masks does not come from an oxygen tank.

Joe goes on to explain that the device used to supply oxygen to the masks on commercial aircraft is actually called an oxygen generator.

He says the reason for this type of device is that it can “pack a lot of oxygen into a small space because the oxygen is stored as a solid in the form of sodium chlorate.”

Joe explores how oxygen is released from the generator so people can breathe and says, “When you pull the mask down, a firing pin fires and ignites the primer, which heats up to over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.”

He continues: ‘Under this extreme heat, sodium chlorate decomposes into mainly oxygen gas and table salt. The oxygen passes through a filter and through the tube to your mask, where you inhale it.

The device, also called an oxygen candle because of the way it burns, has left TikTok users in disbelief.

One user said: ‘How come I never thought about where the oxygen would come from. I just accepted that it would be there and it would work??’.

Another offered helpful advice from a cabin crew perspective: “As a flight attendant, we have learned that it is very important to let passengers know to PULL down the mask to initiate oxygen flow.”

A third thanked Joe for sharing the handy tip, saying: ‘I didn’t know this. My 11 year old nephew and I learned something new today. Thank you.’

The important advice on the use of oxygen masks comes after the devices failed on a Rossiya Airlines plane during a 7,000 meter dive in February.

An ‘old’ Boeing-737-800 was forced to make an emergency landing in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, because the ten-minute descent caused an extreme depressurization in the cabin.

Five people required medical treatment due to the sharp drop in pressure on the Rossiya Airlines plane.