Qantas jumbo lands with 'gaping hole' in fuselage

[Garlic]

Someone must have been was looking after this flight, thankfully the pilots landed the plane safely and there were no injuries.

 

Must have been a hellish experience for the passengers.

 

 

 

 

 

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Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../362710/1/.html

 

 

 

MANILA - A Qantas Boeing 747 flying to Melbourne made an emergency landing in Manila on Friday after a dramatic mid-air rupture that left a "gaping hole" in its fuselage, officials and passengers said.

 

Stunned passengers reported how the jumbo, which had taken off from London and stopped in Hong Kong, plunged 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) in what one said was an "absolutely terrifying" ordeal.

 

An urgent investigation is underway into what punched a hole of about three metres (10 feet) in diameter into the fuselage near the right wing.

 

A Qantas spokeswoman said the plane, carrying 346 passengers and 19 crew, was now undergoing an inspection on the ground in Manila, where luggage could be clearly seen jutting out of the hole.

 

"There was a terrific boom, and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down," June Kane, a passenger from Melbourne, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

 

"We were told that one of the rear doors, a hole had blown into it, but I've since looked at the plane and there's a gigantic gaping hole in the plane."

 

"It was absolutely terrifying, but I have to say everyone was very calm," she added, speaking from the Philippine capital.

 

Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said initial inspections showed the aircraft had sustained a hole in its fuselage, and it was being inspected by engineers.

 

He said the flight crew performed emergency procedures after oxygen masks were deployed and there were no reports of any injuries.

 

In a statement, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the plane had been flying at 29,000 feet when the crew were forced into an emergency descent after a section of the fuselage separated and resulted in rapid decompression of the cabin.

 

It said the crew descended the aircraft to 10,000 feet "in accordance with established procedures" and diverted the plane safely to Manila.

 

The Bureau said it was sending four investigators to Manila to assist local authorities with the investigation.

 

Qantas flight QF30, which took off from Hong Kong at 9:00am (0100 GMT), had been due to arrive in Melbourne at 1145 GMT, according to the Qantas website.

 

Passenger June Kane said the problem had appeared to centre on the baggage compartment of the plane.

 

"I'm looking at the plane now and just forward of the wing, there's a gaping hole from the wing to the underbody," she said.

 

"It's about two metres by four metres and there's baggage hanging out so you assume that there's a few bags that may have gone missing.

 

Passengers praised the crew for landing the plane safely.

 

"We heard a very large bang, the oxygen masks came out. But the crew was very calm and everything was fine," said Phil Rescall, a 40-year-old man from England travelling to Australia for work.

 

"The shock came when many got off the plane and saw the hole," he told AFP. "You see the hole and you realise we were very lucky.

 

"Some people were crying, some people were pretty shaken when they saw the hole."

 

"The crew were terrific, they did a great job," another passenger, Brendan McClements, said. "Everyone gave them a round of applause as we landed."

 

Qantas said the 747-400 was not the one that was used to fly Pope Benedict XVI out of Australia earlier this month after his visit to Sydney.

 

- AFP/jk/ir

Edited July 25, 2008 by Garlic

[Jetabout777]

Today's Qantas 747-400 scheduled flights out of Changi for London and Frankfurt were delayed for at least 45 minutes to a few hours. Namely QF9, QF31 and QF5. I wonder whether the delays were linked to last minute routine checks on the aircrafts.

[Ara84]

WOW! juz missed it. took off from Manila on friday morning.

[Solar]

i kenna 'air pocket' before.. altho masks did'nt drop down, it was scary enough.. can't imagine the plane plunging 6000 meters..

hope that its not due to cost cutting exercise that is going on... such activity almost always lead to some compromise

[Sosaria]

Ozzie engineers are pushing for more wages and threatening strikes in their own country. They are against their flag carrier for outsourcing aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul work to "cheaper" countries with less union troubles, and where labour laws favour corporates rather than employees - like singapore, for example .

 

The ozzie engineers claim that such action will compromise safety standards... hmmm... i'm just speculating, but now with such an incident, could it be deliberate?? Some people may want to prove their point, i guess.

 

If in singapore, these engineers will already be "fixed" with the "lightning bolt"

Edited July 26, 2008 by Sosaria

[Felipe]

planes are dangerous stuff. i know a pilot who said after he trained to be pilot, he only dares to sit planes he's piloting. cos theres just so many dangers in flying. just one small error and that's it. ive a slight phobia in flying so i dont travel frequently unless partner pushes me to during hols.

[Fondue]

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7524733.stm

 

[Jetabout777]

VH-OJK... Captain looking pretty stunned!

 

For your info, this aircraft just turned 17 years old in June 2008.

[B777jubilee]

Air pockets are different. In air pockets, cabin remains pressurized, thus oxygen mask will not be deployed. And any change is altitude during air pockets is not controlled. In this case, the flight crew deliberately descend to 10000 ft ASAP as part of the standard operating procedure as this level allows normal breathing without the need for pressurization.

 

This is wat pilots are trained for, usually commercial pilots are system operators and checklist operators but when such events, however rare, arises, its when u see all the benefits of hours and hours of simulator training, base checks that pilots go through.

[Beehive3783]

COE plane? HAhahaa...

[Showtime]

  Quote

i kenna 'air pocket' before.. altho masks did'nt drop down, it was scary enough.. can't imagine the plane plunging 6000 meters..

hope that its not due to cost cutting exercise that is going on... such activity almost always lead to some compromise

 

plunging is probably an exaggeration by the press etc. It was an emergency descent to 10,000 ft as per standard procedures when de-pressurization occurs.

[Powerhouse]

Maintain in Bicycle shop.

Edited July 26, 2008 by Powerhouse

[Powerhouse]

Deaths occur more on the road than in the air.

[Nikolaiski]

but when ONE total air crash occurs.....

 

 

 

(ok you are still right..i just couldn't resist typing this in..haha)

[Felipe]

tats because more ppl drive than take planes? but fact of matter is the margin for error in planes is much more slim than cars.

Edited July 26, 2008 by Felipe

[Powerhouse]

I would think its more than stunned. Luckily all passengers survive this ordeal.

[Cklasse]

This reminds me of our own B744 SQ6 in Taipei. I flew into Brisbane in the morning to hear that the "rainbow" aircraft had crashed in Taipei.

[Skylander]

heard that an oxygen bottle is missing from the plane and could be one of the causes for the hole puncture. Think the Aussie aviation authorities investigating oxygen bottles now.