English

A rubber jungle

Noun

rubber jungle ‎(plural rubber jungles)

1. (aviation, idiomatic) In a commercial passenger airliner, the dense, forest-like profusion of suspended tubes, straps, bags, and masks which results when large numbers of oxygen masks are deployed.
   • 2006 May 15, Meryl Getline, "Ask the Captain: When oxygen masks mysteriously appear," USAToday.com (retrieved 21 March 2014):

     By the way, when all the masks are hanging out, it's sometimes referred to as the "rubber jungle."

   • 2007 March 18, Jeff Bailey, "After service disruptions, airlines are saying they're sorry," New York Times (retrieved 21 March 2014):

     From the day before, an accidental deployment of oxygen masks—a rubber jungle, in airline-speak—was discussed.

   • 2013, Jim Lewis, Short Tales by a Tall Pilot, ISBN 9781475969870, p. 89 (Google preview):

     I looked back to see what was going on, and observed a rubber jungle of oxygen masks hanging from the overhead bins.