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<p>Actually, more Americans die from falls down stairs each year than die on commercial airliners. </p>
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<p>It is likely that the passengers had no chance. If the aircraft broke up mid-flight, however (which all indications point to right now), then the passengers would likely only be conscious for several seconds after the catastrophe occurred. </p>
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<p>We’ll see. No distress call would mean a catastrophic and rapid failure, however, and that has all the hallmarks of some type of explosion or even catastrophic turbulence (which would be extremely rare).</p>