Qantas jumbo lands with 'gaping hole' in fuselage

AFP ^ | Fri Jul 25, 4:56 AM ET | Mynardo Macaraig

[Devilinbaggypants]

MANILA (AFP) - 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...

[Devilinbaggypants]

Isn't Quantas the only airline to never have experienced a major accident?

[ryan71]

Sounds like a bomb exploded in the luggage compartment?

[oh8eleven]

Yes

[Eye of Unk]

Not bomb I think, looks more like structural failure possibly from water leakage or a damaged area from cargo loading. The pics show basically smooth surfaces, no inward or outward edges, not missile, strike or bomb internally but it could have been something in luggage like a ruptured scuba tank.

[Eye of Unk]

Boeing is currently redesigning the jumbo jet to include redundancy in aircraft controls in case of future problems.

[Glenn]

1988? Damn. It doesn’t seem like a 20 year old movie. I must be getting olde.

[Victor]

That is hysterical. 3 Million lbs of thrust....?

[Devilinbaggypants]

LOL...LOL

[MrB]

First thought when I heard the story too...

“Qantas never crashed”

Well, I guess they still haven’t.

[wrench]

The pic I saw looked like a wing root fairing blew off. Non-structural, and held on with screws.

Someone didn’t finish installing it after an inspection. Shift ended, and paperwork got turned in. Had enough screws to hold it in place on the ground, but not enough for 400mph wind blast.

God help the mechanic if he was using “rubber bolts” instead if fixing the stripped fasteners.

[Yo-Yo]

Related thread with pics:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051029/posts

[Fundamentally Fair]

Not bomb I think, looks more like structural failure possibly from water leakage or a damaged area from cargo loading. The pics show basically smooth surfaces, no inward or outward edges, not missile, strike or bomb internally but it could have been something in luggage like a ruptured scuba tank.

You sure are quick with the cover up. Did the Government send you? </conspiracy whack job>

[willk]

Something similar happened to a United 747 outbound from Hnl several years ago. Tragically, that one sucked several passengers out.

[Moonman62]

That accident was caused by the cargo door ripping off. In simulations of the incident most pilots were unable to save the plane. There’s a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder on the internet that makes for fine reading.

[Moonman62]

but it could have been something in luggage like a ruptured scuba tank.

Maybe it was a can of Muslim shaving cream or hair spray.

[YankeeGirl]

Glad this happened AFTER my daughter flew to Perth 3 days ago. It was a long 30 hours of tension as she was traveling from NY JFK -> London LHR -> Singapore SIN -> Perth PER. Last two flights were Quantas.

I’d say the passengers and crew on that flight were VERY lucky the aircraft held together and no control surfaces or electronic connections were damaged.

At least I don’t have to worry about her flying again until semester ends in November.

[Devilinbaggypants]

That’s a long haul! Congrats on getting her there safe and sound ;-)

[rawhide]

http://www.airdisaster.com/cvr/aloha243.shtml

[rawhide]

This is a really big hole: Aloha Airlines 243 Year-1998

[Revolting cat!]

Look at those disastrously cramped seats!