United Jet Plunges 20,000 Feet Over The Atlantic Before Turning Around

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-flight-plunges-20000-feet-over-atlantic-before-turning-around-2012-7



A United Airlines flight from Washington DC to London was forced to turn around when mechanical problems caused it to plunge 20,000 feet over the Atlantic.
Passengers described the nightmare flight to Daily Mail:
Ms Laming, who was joined by her friend Ellie Cauldwell, 22, from Bristol, said she had gone to sleep when she was jolted awake by the sudden movement of the plane.
"The plane dropped and it felt like being on a ferry when it goes up and down," she said.
"Most of the cabin crew were running up the aisles and we were not told anything for a while.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-flight-plunges-20000-feet-over-atlantic-before-turning-around-2012-7#ixzz20tKccgm7

[arely staircase]

1. passengers

were then charged a 35 dollar plunging fee.

[marmar]

3. ROFL

[BamBamBane]

4. Too damn true

[KaryninMiami]

5. Very funny. No fee for hitting their heads on the seat in front of them? NT

[sufrommich]

7. Duzy.

[marmar]

2. yikes !!!!

Can't they extend the Eurostar across the Atlantic?

[AsahinaKimi]

8. Was on a plane going to Chicago once..

When it just dropped. OMG, that was the worst sensation ever, my stomach was in my throat. Didn't stop me from flying, but I sure became a nervous passenger after that.

[xchrom]

9. I've never had it happen flying over an ocean -

But a fee times going over mountain ranges.

I swear it takes years off your life.

[HopeHoops]

10. I HATE when that happens!

It isn't the first time something similar has occurred. Jets can't coast. They've got the aerodynamics of a paving brick without the thrust of the engines.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. Well, because the world IS flat, the plane crossed over the edge. No wonder it fell.

Silly people. Thinking we could fly. If 7000 years ago, the Almighty wanted Adam and Eve to fly, he would have given them wings. Now, do you see any wings in the Creation Museum? It's a great science center! Honest. Trust me!

[ryan_cats]

12. Oh man, what a nightmare!

Oh man, what a nightmare!

I'm usually a good flyer since I usually go to sleep once I board figuring it doesn't do any good to worry.

I've been on a Cessna 170 before and it was a roller coaster and I feared for my life. The pilot thought it was funny.

20,000 feet, almost 4 miles, bring me my brown pants.

[renegade000]

13. not to belittle the understandable anxiety of the passengers, but..

i suspect the headline is highly exaggerated.

the basis of the claim seems to be that at some undetermined point (after they had already turned around to make a landing!), the passengers observed the altitude of the plane to be around the low 20Ks (when before the airplane was cruising somewhere in the high 30Ks). this hardly sounds like a 20k "plunge". i'd also think that a literal 20K plunge would be described in more terrifying terms by the anxious passengers than like a ferry on some rough seas-- more like the most awful roller coaster ride you've ever been on...



i suspect there was a more mundane mechanical issue that caused the initial "ferry-like" movements, which prompted the pilots to make the turnaround and landing. the pilots were probably focusing on diagnosing the problem and making sure everything was under control, instead of giving a running commentary to the cabin... and by the time the source of the 20K figure bothered to check the altitude, the plane had already reached a new cruising altitude or had begun its descent into the airport.

on edit: the "ferry-like" movements could have also just been turbulence that was just coincidental as well... it's hard to say. the original article described the captain as making a cautious decision to divert based on a possible mechanical problem with an engine. might have been an intentional or unintentional loss of engine power in one engine...which necessitated a lower cruise altitude... just speculating...