Originally Posted by Helena Handbaskets
......the pilot dove out of the sky at a dramatic angle, actually arriving at the bottom of the dive earler than necessary and maintaining an unusually low altitude at top speed to the .....
I know it possibly felt different to normal, maybe feeling vibration from speed brakes being deployed, but I can assure you that two professional pilots up front would not descend the aircraft at anything other than an acceptable rate. Furthermore they would not then go on at low altitude at top speed, as airliners are restricted to typically 250 knots below 10,000 feet at that's the height below which it is possible to hit a bird, and windshields are only stressed against birdstrikes up to that speed.