Narrative:

We were cruising at FL350. A flight attendant came to the cockpit to tell me the masks had dropped out of their holders. I informed him that there was no pressurization problem. The cabin was 8000 ft at the time. I made an announcement to let the passenger know that there was no problem and the mask deployment switch had apparently malfunctioned. I also walked back in the cabin as a couple of people had pulled their masks down and activated the oxygen canisters. I told them not to touch the hot canisters. The hot canister made a slight burnt paint smell. There was no smoke, no fire, no problems. We continued on to memphis, where I informed maintenance and they took care of it from there.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DC9 ACFT HAS OXYGEN MASKS DEPLOY AT CRUISE. NO PRESSURIZATION PROB. FLT CONTINUES TO DEST.

Narrative: WE WERE CRUISING AT FL350. A FLT ATTENDANT CAME TO THE COCKPIT TO TELL ME THE MASKS HAD DROPPED OUT OF THEIR HOLDERS. I INFORMED HIM THAT THERE WAS NO PRESSURIZATION PROB. THE CABIN WAS 8000 FT AT THE TIME. I MADE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO LET THE PAX KNOW THAT THERE WAS NO PROB AND THE MASK DEPLOYMENT SWITCH HAD APPARENTLY MALFUNCTIONED. I ALSO WALKED BACK IN THE CABIN AS A COUPLE OF PEOPLE HAD PULLED THEIR MASKS DOWN AND ACTIVATED THE OXYGEN CANISTERS. I TOLD THEM NOT TO TOUCH THE HOT CANISTERS. THE HOT CANISTER MADE A SLIGHT BURNT PAINT SMELL. THERE WAS NO SMOKE, NO FIRE, NO PROBS. WE CONTINUED ON TO MEMPHIS, WHERE I INFORMED MAINT AND THEY TOOK CARE OF IT FROM THERE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.