In media stories last week, for example this one in The West Australian, former airline Captain Kevin Sullivan broke his long silence on what happened on Qantas Airways flight QF72 in October 2008. Traveling from Singapore to Perth, the Airbus A330-300 aircraft suddenly lost altitude over the north-west of Western Australia, causing unrestrained passengers and crew to be flung around the cabin. The injuries were serious, and included fractures, lacerations and spinal injuries. Captain Sullivan called a mayday and made an emergency landing at the remote Learmonth Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base. At least 110 of the 303 passengers and nine of the 12 crew members had been injured.