That this incident has provoked such a reaction in the chattering classes demonstrates that aviation reached the stage a long time ago where passengers expect and demand a totally sensation-less experience on all flights, and protest vociferously on the very rare occasions when this is not achieved. This is a tribute to the present state of the game. Those who shout loudest are, one suspects, the same ones who think the briefings and safety card are for the benefit of lesser mortals...
I would have hoped, however, that someone of the reputed calibre and daring of Ben Hadow would have been made of sterner stuff, as the majority of well-heeled passengers were in the earlier days of aviation. Waking to his interview this morning, I was disappointed. Frankly, don't think I'd want to be up the swanny with him...
There's been discussion here re the timing of the first announcement. D O Guerro argues that bottom-of-descent may be too early; Baron rouge that this is the best time to do it, because the passengers are in need of the overdue reassurance. I agree with the baron, but there is more to it than that.
The bottom-of-descent PA is chiefly to enable the flight crew to re-establish communication with the cabin crew. Wherever the senior cabin-crew member happens to be situated (he/she might be clinging to a mask in mid-cabin), the PA should be audible. In my airline (I'm now retired), the PA goes something like this:
"The descent is now complete. Will the senior cabin crew member report to the flight deck."
This PA is designed speedily to achieve a number of objectives:
a) to inform ALL cabin crew that they no longer need oxygen and can resume duties in the cabin;
b) to bring the senior cabin-crew member to the cockpit for consultation and briefing;
c) to provide immediate reassurance to the cabin crew, and any passengers who may be listening, that the situation is under control.
Although it is technically possible for either pilot to make a PA during the descent, there is far too high a workload to justify it. The emergency descent is a fairly demanding manoeuvre, which can easily be mishandled and is practised only once a year or so in the simulator; ATC must be informed; and it is vital to establish whether the safety altitude permits descent to 10,000ft or below. [A bit further down the route, they would have been approaching the Pyrenees.]
I am not going to comment on what may have been done (or not done) to reassure the passengers during the diversion to Limoges: we simply don't have the facts yet. But one thing is for sure: workload would have been fairly high for all the crew.