Re: Safety?
" I'd have though airtight doors ought to really remain closed, or at least be able to automatically close in case of a major leak. "
Spacecraft and space stations operate under rather low pressure. Far lower than sea level, more like 10-12000 feet air pressure (excuse the imperial, it's late and I really don't feel like converting right now, sorry).
Even a major leak, which that one actually was, wasn't a you're dead in a minute kind a deal. If it was, we'd be reading about a crew that died in the line of duty.
As for panic, there was a managed panic on all hands to get that crap out of the way, try to use procedures, note the loss of pressure rate, etc. The result was, as I recall from the more confidential report was that a Russian actually cut some cables to clear the hatch. The American was unplugging in a somewhat uncontrolled fashion, but only somewhat.
All were doing what they could to avoid attempting to respire in a vacuum. The loss of Spektr and half of the station power was essentially unavoidable, due to a shitty design that never considered the loss of a module.
As for reverting to native language, that does happen in a stress situation. It seems to have partially done so then as well.
Fortunately, anyone that *any* nation trains and sends to space is also one well vetted to handle life or death stress and has repeatedly done so in the real world, not exclusively one of training.
That's why former fighter pilots are so frequently chosen. The safety margin on fighters is far lower than on any other aircraft due to the nature of the duty requirements.