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xkcd #3124: Grounded (imgs.xkcd.com)
submitted 5 days ago by xkcdbot@lemmy.world to c/xkcd@lemmy.world

xkcd #3124: Grounded

Title text:

We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.

Transcript:

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Source: https://xkcd.com/3124/

explainxkcd for #3124

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[-] thespcicifcocean@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

~~actually, cabins are typically pressurized to around 10,000 ft, not sea level, iirc. so this was actually a higher pressure than is typically experienced in a pressurized cabin.~~

I'm wrong

I got mixed up. the limit for unpressurized cabins is 10,000 ft, so if you're flying a small plane without supplemental oxygen you can't go higher than that

[-] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Do you have a source for this? My only reference here is hiking at > 10 000 ft (3000 m), and from that I can say that this seems very unlikely: If you stay at 3000 for a couple hours without acclimating first, you will definitely start to feel the effects. To be fair, you're usually not moving around a lot in an aircraft, but a couple hours at 3000 m can make you feel sluggish and weak, and even a bit light-headed, you could even get a mild headache from oxygen deprivation.

Note that not everyone will see severe symptoms already at 3000 m. Plenty of people can go to 4000 m before seeing significant symptoms. However, given that I've never heard of anyone experiencing altitude sickness in a properly pressurised aircraft, it seems unlikely to me that they're pressurised to 3000 m.

this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2025
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