"It is the closest all of us passengers ever want to come to a plane crash," a Qantas flight QF1889's passenger said after the plane suddenly descended about 20,000 feet on Monday, September 22, and diverted back to Darwin.

The Embraer 190 's crew received a pressurisation warning, followed the procedures, and landed normally - but in the cabin, that rapid drop felt anything but normal.

The truth is, in-flight technical problems such as this one are part of flying. Pilots train extensively for them. Checklists contain detailed instructions on how to deal with each issue. Aircraft are built with layers of redundancy, and warning systems alert pilots to problems. It is because of these safety systems that the vast majority of flights that experience technical issues end with a safe arr

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