Explosion or loose panel eyed in Qantas mishap

07/27/2008

Air safety experts were probing whether an explosion inside some luggage or a broken panel punched a hole in a Qantas plane forced to make an emergency landing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, a source said yesterday.

The source said experts were also focusing on the two theories as they probed the dramatic rupture on the Boeing 747 as it flew from Hong Kong to Melbourne last Friday with more than 300 passengers and crew on board.

“They were very lucky,” said the source, who is close to the investigation and asked not to be identified.

“While it is too early to say what actually caused the hole, we will be looking at two possibilities...something exploded in one of the bags or a panel came loose on the fuselage,” the source said.

The source added the explosion might have been caused by a pressurized container inside a piece of luggage, saying a bomb was unlikely.

The plane was flying at 29,000 feet when the crew were forced to make an emergency descent, dropping nearly 6,000 meters, after a section of the fuselage separated and resulted in rapid decompression of the cabin.

Capt. John Bartels later made a safe emergency landing at NAIA and no one was injured in the incident which at least one passenger has described as an “absolutely terrifying” ordeal.

An urgent investigation is under way into what ripped a hole of about 10 feet in diameter into the fuselage near the right wing.

Investigators from Qantas and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have arrived in the Philippines to inspect the plane, officials said.

The local Air Transport Office is also looking into the incident, Manila International Airport Authority general manager Alfonso Cusi said.

Cusi added he did not believe an explosion caused the incident, saying “our air safety people are looking into it and from the looks of it, it doesn’t look like an explosion.”

“We still think it is a technical problem on the plane,” Cusi added.

The Qantas office in Manila declined comment on the investigation, referring all inquiries to its office in Sydney.

Pilot Bartels had told Philippine aviation authorities that he started dumping fuel as he made his way to Manila for the emergency landing.

The deputy manager for operations at Manila airport, Octavio Lina, was also quoted yesterday as saying “the flooring gave way, exposing some of the cargo beneath.”

“The ceiling around the area also collapsed,” he said.

Qantas Airways boasts of its safety record, having never lost a jet to an accident. Some passengers have praised the crew for their safe handling of the incident. AFP

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