Not a pilot, and not trying to be an armchair pilot, but why would he have ascended all the way to 36000 feet? Isn't there a real risk of depressurization with hull damage?
A famous example of this is American Airlines flight 96 (1972): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_96
The thing that doesn't need to happen is flying at full flight altitude when the pressure differential between the inside and outside is greatest.
Still, you don’t want to take a structurally damaged plane high up.