Given a surprise-a sudden downdraft, say-and skimmer and pilot could have fallen a half kilometer into the ocean.

He'd lost concentration, and a sudden downdraft had caught him unprepared.

Even then, she would have made it without the sudden downdraft that hammered her at the last instant, but between them, they were too much.

He hoped they did not hit a sudden downdraft.

At the altitude at which they were going to have to be, a sudden downdraft could be deadly.

There must have been a sudden downdraft.

The helicopter lurched toward the ground when a sudden downdraft hammered at it.

There was a sudden downdraft that hauled the bird violently under.

That may help protect them from sudden downdrafts in the markets, and from the urge to suddenly cash out their holdings at a loss.

Few other industries have had to cope with the sort of sudden downdraft that hit the airlines.