A Qantas plane flying from London to Melbourne was forced to make an ermergency landing at Manila airport after a door “popped” midflight, leaving a hole in the side of the plane.
The Boeing 747 carrying 300 passengers and crew plunged 20,000 feet after the faulty door “popped”, causing an “explosive” depressurisation. Flight QF30 had just taken off from Hong Kong when the incident happened. As the plane dropped from 30,000 feet to 10,000 feet, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling.
One passenger on flight QF 30, Brendan McClements said there was a sudden “gust of wind” through the plane. ”There was a degree of surprise – people questioning what it was,” he told Australia’s Herald Sun website.
”There was a rush of wind as the air pressure came down. It got people’s attention. It was then a matter of getting the masks on.” He said the faulty door was on the “driver’s” side of the plane. There was ”a big gap where the door used to be”, he said. He said other passengers were in “reasonably good” spirits.
Another passenger described how children burst into tears after a “quick bang” reverberated throught the cabin. She said the plane plunged, but then stabilised after about five minutes.
Passengers reported that the pilot did “an amazing job” of controlling the aircraft, taking it lower to counter the effects of the depressurised cabin. Mr McClements, an Australian businessman, said: ”The crew were terrific, they did a great job. Everyone gave them a round of applause as we landed.”
Qantas is still trying to establish how a large hole came to appear in the fuselage outside the baggage compartment. An emergency room has been set up at the airline’s head office at Mascot airport in Sydney, where senior airline executives are being continuously by aircraft engineers.
Alfonso Cusi, the Manila airport manager confirmed that the plane has requested an emergency landing. A Qantas spokeswoman said last night: “Qantas can confirm that Qantas flight 30 from Hong Kong to Melbourne has been diverted to Manila . The aircraft is on the ground and is currently being inspected”.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has been notified of the incident and its director of air safety is being briefed by Qantas officials.
In January a Qantas 747 flying from Londno to Bangkok was forced to land on battery backup after an electrical failure, caused by a cracked drip tray. In March, a cockpit alert on a Qantas flight bound from Los Angeles to Sydney forced the pilot to abandon take-off. He was travelling at such speed the impact blew out three of the plane’s tyres and threw passengers forward in their seats.
Qantas seems to be having a spate of major emergencies with its 747s.
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