Air Mauritius Descent

[Draft Dodger]

Have a friend who was on a Air Mauritius flight from Mauritius to LHR on Saturday night 21st December. Half way through the flight over Africa there was a loud bang and the aircraft descended 20,000ft (?) in a tail down attitude (?). It then flew for a while at that altitude and then climbed back to cruise altitude and continued to LHR. The Captain was not very vocal about what happened but said they descended for diagnostic checks then continued. My friend says that as she left the aircraft she overheard one hostess saying to another that the Captain was a real hero.

I am a retired airline pilot who people tell these stories to, so not sure what happened. Maybe a windscreen? Anybody know where I might find information about what happened. Just seems a strange event.

Thanks in anticipation

[Dash8driver1312]

Aviation herald. Other than that, you as a former pilot should know the likelihood of climbing up again if the windshield had cracked. Or the likelihood of descending tail-down...

[chevvron]

Maybe a tyre burst? I did encounter this once in my ATC career while working at Lindholme, controlling upper airspace traffic. A BAC111 from Gatwick to Glasgow above FL250 north of Manchester reported they'd just had a tyre burst and advised they'd be slowing down. I don't know how they check this but presumably it entails slowing down and lowering the gear thus causing the aircraft to descend.

[White Knight]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I am a retired airline pilot who people tell these stories to, so not sure what happened. Maybe a windscreen?

Really? A retired airline pilot would ask this?