Qantas Airlines – Blast Rips Hole In Jet Over South China Sea

Qantas jet forced to land in Manila.

Debris flew past passengers as air was sucked out of an ageing Melbourne-bound Qantas jumbo jet after a mid-air explosion ripped a gaping hole in its fuselage and plunged the plane into a 20,000ft emergency descent.

Almost 350 mostly Australian travellers on QF30 from London heard an “almighty bang” yesterday morning and feared a mid-air collision as a rush of wind coursed through the cabin and oxygen masks fell from the ceiling of the Boeing 747-400.

“There was a terrific boom, and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down,” Melbourne doctor June Kane said of the ordeal. “It was absolutely terrifying, but I have to say everyone was very calm.”

The plane, which was flying at about 29,000ft over the South China Sea, was diverted to Manila and landed safely at about 11.15am, local time, with no reports of injuries to the 346 passengers and 19 crew, although many were severely shaken.

Manila airport operations officer Ding Lima said the plane lost cabin pressure and the pilot radioed for an emergency landing. “Upon disembarkation, there were some passengers who vomited,” he said.

“You can see in their faces that they were really scared.”

As Qantas and air safety authorities last night were scratching their heads over the cause of the incident, passengers described the damage to the plane as a “gaping hole from the wing to the underbody”.

“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,” Dr Kane said.

Qantas Flight 30 was about 320km out of Manila en route to Melbourne from Hong Kong when the drama began yesterday morning.

The pilots heard a bang and received a decompression warning and the plane yawed to one side. They immediately began an emergency descent to 10,000ft.

“It’s standard procedure,” International Federation of Airline Pilot Associations technical director Richard Woodward said last night. “The crew practise that non-stop and it’s almost an automatic reaction – you stick your mask on, you establish communication, you wind the altitude down and you pull the speed brake,” he said. “The airplane comes down at about 10,000ft a minute, maybe more.”

A report by the Manila International Airport Authority, quoting pilot John Francis Bartels, said last night an initial investigation indicated there was an “explosive decompression”.

Mr Woodward said air would have escaped from the passenger cabin through mesh-covered “blow-out panels” designed to let it depressurise and prevent the cabin floor from collapsing when the cargo hold is breached.

A passenger sitting in the business-class cabin and close to the damaged section of the plane, Melbourne student Olivia Lucas, said she heard a bang and wind began rushing through the cabin.

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