I’ve about had it with the coverage of the recent Qantas incident.
Qantas flight QF30, with 300 passengers and crew on board, plunged 20,000ft after the faulty door caused an “explosive” depressurisation.
The Boeing 747 had just taken off from a stopover in Hong Kong when the incident happened. As the plane dropped from 30,000ft to 10,000ft, oxygen masks fell from the ceiling.
What’s all this about “dropping”, “plummeting” and “plunging”? And doesn’t 10,000 feet ring a bell with anybody? (Hint: You don’t need supplemental oxygen at that altitude, and it’s easy to read on an altimiter.) Is it too much to ask a reporter or editor somewhere to look up emergency descent? (Took me all of five seconds.) Or phone, you know, a pilot somewhere?
Just remember: Pretty much everything you learn about aviation from the popular press is wrong.