“Why can’t reporter write accurately. The plane did not “dive” or “plunge” or whatever 20,000 ft. The pilots executed an emergency descent to 10,000ft. The plane was entirely under the control of the pilots at all time during its flight.”
“I am so sick of these idiot journalists who know nothing, obivously failed grade school composition and think that they are fit to instruct the rest of the world on what are the important things that they should discuss.”
I
see nothing wrong with either word. Was this plane in a steep descent? If so, that’s exactly what a dive is when referring to a plane, according to the dictionary, and therefore is being used perfectly. Did it plunge? I don’t know, but according to the story that was a quote from passengers. Is the reporter supposed to stop and say, “Hey, IMO you weren’t officially in a plunge so quit using that word?”
In any event, if I’m on a plane when I hear a loud pop, feel sudden decompression, watch the oxygen masks come down, notice that the floor is buckled and there’s a hole, and then feel a quick descent, I’m going to be scared you-know-whatless. You can assure me all day long that it wasn’t a “plunge,” but it hardly matters.
I see a big problem with the whole sentence constuct "the plane dove 20,000ft" as if the plane had a mind of its own, or else as if the pilots lost control and only got control back in the nick of time.
Instead, from everything I can tell, the pilots were in control, and in response to the sudden cabin depressurization, the pilots executed a rapid, but completely controlled descent, as is standard emergency procedure to a level at which cabin pressure does not lead to the rabid depletion of oxygen from the brain causing death.