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Post by lfc84 on May 31, 2011 21:23:45 GMT 1
www.thejournal.ie/passengers-feared-for-their-lives-when-ryanair-flight-plunged-12000ft-146309-May2011/PASSENGERS ON A Ryanair flight have spoken of how they feared for their lives when their plane plummeted 12,000 feet in mid-air less than two weeks ago. Flight FR449 was travelling between Liverpool and Dublin on the evening of May 20 when its pilot made an emergency announcement – saying “emergency descent, emergency descent,” before triggered the lowering of oxygen masks. “One of the hostesses was sobbing, she was in bits. Her behaviour frightened the staff and it made us think, ‘If she is afraid, then we really must be in trouble’,” one passenger told the Irish Mirror’s Cathal McMahon. The crew descended from 18,000ft to 10,000ft to resolve a problem with cabin pressure, before it dropped again to 6,000ft, but the plane ultimately made a safe landing. The Air Accident Investigation Unit has begun an investigation into the incident.
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Post by danairamb on Jun 1, 2011 22:02:24 GMT 1
This is interesting and disturbing in terms of how well qualified are some of these flight crew. Reminds me of a flight I took in Brazil on Varig - who then (2000) were the national carrier. In a beautifully maintained 737-400 I was flying from Curitiba to Iguassu Falls. We hit very heavy turbulence, all service was stopped and I could clearly see two of the crew in the jump seats, crossing themselves, when lightening crashed and the plane dipped, one of them screamed out in terror. I am not the most stoic of people, but I love flying so much I was not disturbed and remained confident of the crews' ability to land us in safety which they did. On a fairly recent FR flight I thought the crew were lax in enforcing safety, and did not even do a proper seat belt check. Across from me were three very young kids, whose parents were in front of them. They did not have their seat belts fastened, the crew failed to notice this and I had to alert the parents.
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