Descent (aeronautics)
Any period of time during an aircraft's flight when its altitude decreases / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In aeronautics, a descent is any time period during air travel where an aircraft decreases altitude, and is the opposite of an ascent or climb.
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Descents are part of normal procedures, but also occur during emergencies, such as rapid or explosive decompression, forcing an emergency descent to below 3,000 m (10,000 ft) and preferably below 2,400 m (8,000 ft), respectively the maximum temporary safe altitude for an unpressurized aircraft and the maximum safe altitude for extended duration.[1][lower-alpha 1]
An example of explosive decompression is Aloha Airlines Flight 243. Involuntary descent might occur from a decrease in power, decreased lift (wing icing), an increase in drag, or flying in an air mass moving downward, such as a terrain induced downdraft, near a thunderstorm, in a downburst, or microburst.