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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.
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][a]
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.
- ^ Manager, FAA Transport Airplane Directorate, Aircraft Certification Service, ANM-100 (March 24, 2006). "Interim Policy on High Altitude Cabin Decompression (Reference Amendment 25-87)" (PDF). U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
The primary means to ensure occupant survivability rests in quickly bringing the occupants to a cabin pressure where they can survive (i.e., a lower cabin pressure altitude as given in the table below). Airplane DAH should use design features that facilitate rapid airplane descent from high altitudes to ensure that the occupants will not be subjected to pressure altitudes for durations longer than those given in the following table.
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