Shenzhen Airlines passenger plane "suddenly dropped 6000 meters", not as thrilling as expected
■ Observer
Relieving pressure in the cabin is not a big deal. The pilot is capable of handling it without causing too much worry.
On the morning of August 9, the news that Shenzhen Airlines ZH9209 passenger plane issued a 7700 emergency code and "suddenly dropped" 6000 meters on the hot search and triggered heated discussions among netizens. The reason for the hot discussion is that on the one hand, ordinary netizens are concerned about the high-altitude risks of Shenzhen Airlines flights. On the other hand, many netizens who are familiar with aviation knowledge expressed that media reports are exaggerating.
In individual media reports, this flight of Shenzhen Airlines was described as “the passenger plane experienced a sudden drop in altitude within two minutes, from 9297 meters to 3733 meters”. But in fact, the structural design of the airliner involved cannot withstand such a rapid decline. As an industry insider said in an interview with the media, "if the aircraft drops nearly 3000 meters per minute, the aircraft will disintegrate at a speeding speed." Shenzhen Airlines also responded that “it is impossible to descend so fast”, and the specific data of the sudden drop is still unclear.
Obviously, there were omissions in the earlier media reports. However, whether it is concerned or questioned by netizens, the common point can be found is that the public's attention to civil aviation passenger transportation is increasing significantly.
Through the previous Sichuan Airlines 3U8633 windshield rupture incident and the film "Captain of China" filmed with this, the public has gained more attention and understanding of civil aviation transportation. It was also after that, media reports on various events in daily civil aviation transportation were much higher than in the past.
Through the Sichuan Airlines 3U8633 incident, the transponder code 7700 is well known to the public. Although the 7700 code represents an emergency, not all emergencies encountered by the flight with the 7700 code are "emergency" for the public.
The 7700 code can be linked to passengers with sudden illness on the plane, and the 7700 code can also be linked to the aircraft with insufficient fuel and priority landing. In fact, most of the 7700 codes are controllable. If an uncontrollable situation is really encountered, the pilot will call "Mayday Mayday Mayday" on the communication channel.
What's more, cabin decompression is a common emergency situation of passenger aircraft. Pilots have only a lot more training on this item before they start training and during regular retraining training. It can be said that decompression in the cabin is not a big deal, and the pilot is capable of handling it without causing too much worry.
The data on the authoritative aviation information platform Flightradar24 shows that the descent rate of this flight of Shenzhen Airlines is about 1000 meters per minute, which means that the aircraft involved in the incident descends to a suitable human height of 3000 meters, which takes less than 6 minutes. The emergency oxygen supply time of the airliner A320 involved was 15 minutes, and the crew had enough time to deal with the cabin decompression situation. A 2-minute drop is neither possible nor necessary.
Therefore, when reporting and disseminating incidents involving civil aviation aircraft, the most basic facts and data should be verified and confirmed. Only in line with facts and professional reports can people's information needs for civil aviation safety be met, and by this, the public's awareness of civil aviation knowledge can be continuously improved.
Reports involving traffic safety especially require factual and professional support. The lack of professionalism may increase the public’s worries; and factual reports and interpretations will help raise the public’s common sense awareness, thereby enhancing their daily safety awareness of travel, and thus allowing the public to abide by traffic rules. It can be more cooperative in the event of a traffic accident to ensure that emergency response is more efficient.
□Chen Cheng (media person)