Last week I was flying from California to Colorado in a commercial airliner (A320), when high above the rockies the pilot suddenly lifted the air brakes. The plane immediately started losing altitude and was shaking violently, making loud noises. I could clearly see the air brakes up above the wings. The pilot then asked everyone on the plane to stay in our seats. A few minutes later, after we dropped below the cloud cover, he retracted the air brakes, and the plane resumed flying normally as if nothing had happened. This is first time I've ever seen a pilot do that. Is this a normal procedure for an Airbus? What could have caused him to do that? Thanks.
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