undermine the air foil. and down you go. i think they can a 9,000 per foot descent. this is about what you would expect to not overstress the airplane. so in that hectic time, the captain would likely take control of the aircraft. the first officer would be responsible for the other duties including the communication. and that is where something went wrong. and why did it fail? why did the transponder fail? that is the big part of the mystery at this point. part of this is descend to 10,000 feet where you can get enough air to breathe. then you continue your trouble-shooting. so in a dramatic form, watching martin and mitchell. you know it is a simulator but it is gut wrenching watching that stuff. and you can imagine the scenario in the real world.