Question: I understand if a piece of carbon fibre broke on a rocket, you would die from oxygen escaping, but what about a plane?

Rhys Archer answered on 17 Jun 2015:

It all depends on what the carbon fibre is being used for. A rocket is made of lots of different materials, for instance you may have a different material on the fuel cells as you do on the outside of the rocket, as different materials have different properties that are useful in different situations. If we think about a plane, if the wings were made of carbon fibre, and a small piece broke off, you may have problems in terms of the flying capability of the plane but it should mean oxygen escapes. However, if the main body of the plane is carbon fibre, and the components between the main cabin and the outside of the plane are also carbon fibre, then if a piece breaks off then then yes some oxygen could be lost. However all planes have safety devices to stop loss of oxygen, and at the last resort their are oxygen masks in the plane so even if the cabin lost oxygen, every passenger would still have a full tank of oxygen – so it is unlikely you would die from lack of oxygen in either eventuality!