“we’re going down.” It is very hard to give those words any other meaning than a crash is imminent and we’re about to die. From the circumstances described - and, given the state of journalism, to be taken with a huge grain of salt - it was a very poor choice of words to say for an emergency descent.
LOL! Like the three words you never want to hear while huddled around a low campfire, deep in the woods at night. One of your buddies suddenly stiffens, as all the cricket noises stop, goes wide-eyed and barks “WHAT WAS THAT?”