Australian investigators today began examining a stricken Qantas jumbo jet that made a harrowing emergency landing in the Philippines with a giant hole in its fuselage.
The Boeing 747-400 was cruising at 29,000ft (8,800 meters) on Friday with 346 passengers aboard when it was shaken by what passengers described as an explosion. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as the plane descended rapidly and debris flew through the cabin from a hole that suddenly appeared in the floor.
En route to Melbourne, Australia from London, the plane managed to land safely minutes later at the Manila airport. There were no injuries among the passengers and crew.
Four specialists from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau were inspecting the aircraft today to determine what caused the damage, said Ruben Ciron, chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
“They are conducting the investigation. They are the principal, we are just the support,” Mr Ciron said.
Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon told reporters today he was “horrified” after seeing pictures of the aircraft’s gaping hole. He said it was too early to speculate on what caused the damage.
“There are thousands of aircraft flying around the world today; things happen. Something has happened here and we cannot speculate any more about what did happen,” Mr Dixon said.
Passengers on Flight QF30 had just been served a meal after a stopover in Hong Kong when they heard a loud bang, then their ears popped as air rushed out of the 9ft (3-meter) hole in the aircraft’s side.
An official of the US Transportation Security Administration said initial reports indicated no link to terrorism.
Peter Gibson, spokesman for Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said speculation that rust contributed to the accident could be discounted.
“It’s clearly an extremely rare and unusual event that a hole opens up in the fuselage,” he told reporters in Australia. “I know there’s a number of theories around, but they’re just that at this stage, they’re just theories. We don’t have the solid facts.”
Boeing spokeswoman Liz Verdier said the company was providing technical assistance. “We are dispatching four personnel from Boeing, an investigator and three engineers,” she said.
Friday’s incident was similar to a 1988 case in which a large section of an older Aloha Airlines jetliner was torn off over Hawaii because of metal fatigue.
Although the pilots were able to land, a flight attendant died and many of the 89 passengers were seriously injured.
Qantas boasts a strong safety record and has never lost a jet to an accident. The last crash of a smaller airline plane was in 1951.
PA