Looking up...
To exit a vehicle, ship, or aircraft after arriving at a destination.
Après l'atterrissage, nous avons descendu à bord de l'avion rapidement.
After landing, we disembarked from the plane quickly.
Les marins descendent à bord du navire à quai.
The sailors disembark from the ship at the dock.
Commonly used in travel contexts (planes, ships, trains). The preposition 'de' indicates the origin of disembarkation.
Do not confuse 'descendre à bord de' with 'descendre du' (to get off from). 'Descendre à bord de' specifically refers to disembarking from a vehicle/ship, while 'descendre du' is more general (e.g., 'descendre du bus').
Always use 'à bord de' after 'descendre' when referring to vehicles or ships. For other contexts (e.g., buildings), use 'descendre de' (e.g., 'descendre de l'immeuble').
From 'descendre' (to descend/go down) + 'à bord de' (on board of). 'Descendre' comes from Latin 'descendere' (to descend), and 'bord' is from Old French 'borde' (ship's side).
Used in formal and informal contexts. In aviation, it often refers to the process of leaving the aircraft after landing. The phrase is literal and does not carry idiomatic meanings.