So, this is terrifying. A couple was traveling on an Air Asia flight from Australia to Bali when their plane fell about 20,000 feet in just nine minutes. But at least they got engaged on that flight?
According to the Associated Press, London-based lawyer Chris Jeanes had been planning to propose to Casey Kinchella, who is from Australia, upon their arrival in Bali anyway. But when their plane descended from about 30,000 to 10,000 feet in a short time, which happens when a cabin loses pressure at cruising altitude, he decided to speed things up.
After the cabin lost pressure and oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, the flight crew panicked and started yelling, "Passengers get down, get down," reported 7 News in Australia. Later, some passengers on the October 15 flight said that they became more anxious because the staff couldn't keep it together. "The panic was escalated because of the behavior of staff who were screaming and looked tearful," passenger Clare Askew said.
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That's when Jeanes pulled down his oxygen mask and popped the question. (Was there something...romantic about the situation?!) "Luckily she said yes," he told the AP. "I wanted to propose and wasn't sure I was going to get a chance to do it," Jeanes told Refinery29.
Also luckily, the plane landed safely about an hour later. When the couple was on the ground, Jeanes said, they "reconfirmed" to each other that they actually wanted to get married and it wasn't some adrenaline-rush-induced moment of passion.
The airline apologized to passengers and booked them on the next available flight. Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority is currently investigating the occurrence.
"We commend our pilots for landing the aircraft safely and complying with standard operating procedure," AirAsia Group head of safety Captain Ling Liong Tien said to the AP. "We are fully committed to the safety of our guests and crew and we will continue to ensure that we adhere to the highest safety standards."