emailed to her this morning:
Ms. Fairechild, I feel that I can speak for the aviation community as a whole when I say that you are an uninformed blithering moron. You obviously have no idea what is going on within the hull of an aircraft, and your stupidity has now infected the general public with this mockery of an article. Spouting off tripe such as this, without so much as a glance at any research materials, makes hard-working pilots look like utter buffoons and brings their already tarnished reputation even lower.
I will not dispute that reduced oxygen levels will create some physical impairments. In fact, this is the ONLY line of text in your article that is even remotely factual. What you are completely clueless to, however, is the fact that the pilots and the cabin crew are breathing the exact same air with the exact same oxygen concentration as everyone else. See, this is how the environmental system works in a pressurized aircraft. Fresh air, from the outside world, is brought into the aircraft, usually through the engine intakes. This air, which is extremely thin and cold at high altitudes, is compressed for use by the engine in order to generate the thrust needed to keep the aircraft aloft. There will be an excess of this compressed air, and since all of it will not be needed for the combustion process the extra is siphoned off to be used in other applications such as cabin pressurization. This high pressure air is then routed to the air conditioning packs which filter it and regulate the temperature to a comfortable human level. The air then gets ducted under pressure into the cabin of the aircraft, and through controlling the rates of inflow and outflow the cabin pressure is maintained. There is no recirculating of air because there is ALWAYS air coming in from the outside world and there is ALWAYS air going out. If no air came out, the plane would literally pop like a balloon. If one of the packs were turned off, there would not be enough airflow in the cabin to maintain pressure and you will suddenly find that breathing and staying warm have just become considerably more difficult.
As for those oxygen bottles you mention, there is one caveat that you did not address with regard to them. The bottles are for EMERGENCY USE ONLY! If a fire breaks out in the cabin, whoever is fighting that fire is going to need something to breathe to prevent smoke inhalation. If the cabin pressure is lost, whoever is piloting the aircraft will need something to breathe to prevent passing out at the controls.
I would sincerely hope that you stop blatantly trying to misinform and terrify the flying public, but I know you would never do so. Invoking fear, spreading farcical rumors, and villifying pilots are bread and butter to a person such as yourself. All I can say is that, as a professional aviator, if I am ever cursed with being in the same aircraft as you, I will kindly but gently ask you to get out and walk.