Danny, thanks for the support.
WideBodiedEng, as I have said before I have just quoted what my friend said to me. I have refrained from adding any interpretation or personal comments, other than there may be significant errors in the data posted (see my first reply).
Wino, thank you - that was the sort of reply that I was looking for. If I can confirm for my friend that there was not an incident despite his perceptions of this manoeuvre, then I can help to restore some of the confidence that he has lost in the safety of air travel. It is difficult for me to contact him openly as he is afraid to tell his wife of what happened as he knows that it will worry her!
I am still trying to find out the exact flight number so that we can be more precise. I am not trying to be alarmist over this, just to establish facts for a frightened customer.