Romney thinks airplane windows should roll down

In his latest gaffe, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lamented the fact that airplane windows don't roll down.

Romney's wife Ann's plane had to make an emergency landing Friday (Sept. 21) because of an electrical malfunction. Discussing the incident at a fundraiser the next day, he said: "When you have a fire in an aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly, there's no — and you can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem. So it's very dangerous."

ok mitt, i am a licensed pilot so here is why airplane windows don't roll down.  (1) planes fly at around 30,000 feet, its damned cold outside (2) there ain't enough O2 at 30,000 feet for anyone to stay conscious for more than 3 min so...(3) airplanes are pressurized, which requires strong fuselages, and at 30,000 feet the cabin equivalent altitude is about 7,500 feet (which is why drinking alcohol is so intoxicating on planes) and  (4) opening a window at 30,000 feet would depressurize the plane (remember Auric Goldfinger, getting sucked out of Pussy Galore's jet after he shoots a gun at James Bond and depressurizes the plane?  which really wouldn't happen but.....) (5) planes that are not pressurized have windows that open, for example, a Piper Cub has a window on the port side that rolls down, and the door on the starboard side opens up and latches on the underside of the wing.  But you don't want to fly cross country in a cub (80 mph, maybe 90 with the wind) (6) and even in non pressurized planes, like a Cub, or a Piper cherokee, or a DC3, you don't open a window if there is an onboard fire, because that fuels the fire with O2.    

Basically, if there is a fire onboard an airplane, you are SOL, which is an aeronautical terms for "shit outta luck."  You land immediately, airport or no airport.  Ann Romney was lucky, it was a small fire, contained, plane landed safely.  good thing Mitt wasn't onboard or he would have opened the  door and probably would have been sucked out.  Which is the only way his campaign could descend any lower than it has so far........