Commercial aircraft providedprovide [[Emergency oxygen system|emergency oxygen]] to passengers to protect them in case of loss of cabin pressure. Chemical oxygen generators are not used for the cockpit crew, who are typically supplied using compressed oxygen canisters also known as oxygen bottles. In narrow body airliners, for each row of seats there were overhead [[oxygen mask]]s and oxygen generators. In some wide-body airliners, such as the [[DC-10]] and [[IL-96]], the canisters and oxygen masks were mounted in the top portion of the seat backs, since the ceiling was too high above the passengers. If a decompression occurred, the panels were opened either by an automatic pressure switch or by a manual switch, and the masks were released. When the passengers pulled down on the mask they removed the retaining pins and triggered the production of oxygen.
The oxidizer core is [[sodium chlorate]] ([[Sodium|Na]][[Chlorine|Cl]][[Oxygen|O]]<sub>3</sub>), which is mixed with less than 5
