One scary flight -Hole forces Qantas plane to land

[malaise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7524733.stm

<snip>
A passenger plane en route from London to Melbourne has made an emergency landing in the Philippines after a large hole appeared in its fuselage.

Qantas Airways said its Boeing 747-400, with 346 passengers and 19 crew, diverted to Manila shortly after leaving Hong Kong and landed safely.

Engineers are investigating what caused the hole - about 2.5m to 3m in diameter - that led to cabin pressure problems.

An airport official said passengers looked scared and some were sick.

Passengers described hearing a large bang and feeling a rush of wind and debris through the cabin about an hour after Flight QF30 left Hong Kong at 0900 local time (0100 GMT).

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said the aircraft made an emergency descent from 29,000ft to 10,000ft. It said initial information indicated that a section of the fuselage had separated in the area of the forward cargo compartment.
----------
Scary stuff!!!

[Sequoia]

1. I think one of the scariest flights was when that plane going to Hawaii

with it's top ripped off. I can't remember when and what flight it was but had seen enactments on tv.

[exothermic]

3. Aloha flight 243 in 1988. They're out of business now (not because of that though)

...

[malaise]

5. I never saw that one n/t

[dysfunctional press]

11. here's a pic of their prototype convertible jetliner...

a stewardess was sucked out as well.

[malaise]

16. Thanks NBC just showed this with a report on

the Qantus drama.

Fasten your seat belts takes on a whole new meaning!

[Sequoia]

20. Talk about your heart in your throat. How very scary!

[dysfunctional press]

22. the one that freaks me out is the united flight to new zealand were a couple rows of seats went out.

along with the passengers in them...
how would you like to be strapped in your seat, enjoying your first class meal...when BOOM! all of a sudden you're still in your seat, but you're out of the aircraft and free-falling 37,000 ft. towards the pacific. yikes.

[undeterred]

24. And then you see the LOST island...

and you know its going to be a strange trip.

[Sequoia]

25. Who needs the rides at Disney Land, eh?

[malaise]

30. Makes you wonder if the life jackets were still under those seats

That's damn frightening.

[RamboLiberal]

37. What was even more gross according to an account I read of

this accident was that one or more of the passengers was sucked in to an engine. Don't know which way to go would be more horrible.

[dysfunctional press]

41. well- at least being sucked into an engine would probably be very quick to go...

falling for several minutes to your certain death has gotta be a drag...unless you lose conciousness or die on the way down.
or- maybe you can go through the 'seven steps' REAL quick, come to acceptance- and then just enjoy the ride...:shrug:

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Pic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_Airlines_Flight_243

[malaise]

17. Thanks n/t

[dysfunctional press]

9. there was a united flight around that same time that had a cargo door fly open in flight...

enroute to new zealand- it peeled away part of the fuselage and two rows of window seats- with passengers in them were ripped out of the plane over the pacific at 37,000 feet.

how would you like to have been in THOSE seats...? :scared:

[undeterred]

23. A stewardess was sucked out when it happened

but I think everyone else survived.

[NightWatcher]

2. you can blame a lot of stuff on Courtney Love but this isnt her fault

[malaise]

4. LOL

:rofl:

[TomInTib]

7. Oh, Hell yeah!

That was danged funny!

[rucky]

6. Rain Man is officially outdated.

yeah, definitely Quantas

[dysfunctional press]

26. nope- this wasn't a fatal crash.

but- qantas has had 8 crashes- and all prior to the making of rainman.(barry levinson made it up.)
however- all of their crashes were prop planes, not jets.

[malaise]

28. One of the few airlines I know that has never had a crash

was BWIA now Caribbean Airways. They're an old airline as well.

[eleny]

8. Maybe something exploded in the cargo

[Warpy]

13. From the position and appearance of the hole

that was my first thought, although cabin pressure plus metal fatigue could explain it, too.

[RamboLiberal]

14. Right now metal fatigue is the leading suspect

though with metal facing out it certainly could've been an explosion in the hold.

The 17-year-old jet had been "plagued by a history of corrosion," according to Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph.

The plane had been refurbished with a new interior in March, and engineers noted "a lot of corrosion during the refit," according to the paper.

Experts believe the hole was the result of metal fatigue or an internal explosion.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5448348&page=1

[dysfunctional press]

19. my first thought was scuba tank...

but on second and third thought- it didn't seem as likely.

[gateley]

10. I'm interested to learn just what caused this --

if it was intentional, some quirky happening, or a prob with the aircraft itself.

[RamboLiberal]

15. See my post above - leading suspect is metal fatigue

But also could be an explosion in the hold. This particular jet had a history of corrision. They are lucky it was the hold, and perhaps that the luggage helped plug the hole and no seats were sucked down in to it. Another spot on that fuselage and they could've lost some passengers or even the entire plane.

Both the United and the Aloha incidents they were lucky to land the plane safely.

[malaise]

18. Doesn't look like an explosion

I'm with you - looks like metal fatigue.

If a piece of that fuselage had gone into the engine we'd be talking about over 350 dead people tonight.
Qantus does have a 100% safety record - never had a crash.

[gateley]

21. Ah -- missed that part -- thanks. nt

[dysfunctional press]

27. the aloha and united incidents also show just how tough airliners really are...

twa 800- not so much. although- the twa 747 reportedly did keep flying even aftr the front end broke off. now THAT would be another freaky flight to have been on- sitting in your seat looking out where the front end of the plane used to be- double yikes!

[Indenturedebtor]

29. Who needs terrorists when you have corporations?

Profitus Uber Alles

[A HERETIC I AM]

31. Oh please.

Qantas has an enviable safety record. They also have among the longest scheduled flights of any major, international airline. The last thing ANY airline wants is an accident or incident that results in injury or death, much less and expensive failure.

Shit happens, once in a while. The pilots acted professionally and competently and got the airplane on the ground with ZERO injuries. Hell, the passengers APPLAUDED the pilot when he entered the terminal.

Your post is bullshit.

[Indenturedebtor]

32. Bullshit huh? What do you call flying a rusty bucket across the ocean?

I call that valuing money over innocent lives. So what about the pilots and applause? The pilots didn't decide that people on average were worth so many cents on the dollar.

How long have you worked for Qantas?

[1]

33. ummm... qantas has never lost a plane to an accident...

never had a plane crash. never had a passenger death.

that was true when rainman said it in 1988, and it is still true today...

[Indenturedebtor]

35. Fair enough. This must be an anomaly then. I suppose that I was generalising from our airlines

Like Southwest etc. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/06/southwest.planes/index.html

So quantas is different. Perhaps they could teach our airlines about ethics.

[1]

36. i don't know what they do, but quantas does it like no other airline in history...

yes they have had some hard landings or a hole in a plane like today, but never a crash. never a death.

i just wanted to step up and make sure everyone knew what a great job they do. as an airline. as a corporation.

it can be done...

[Indenturedebtor]

38. Maybe it has to do with the fact that they're based in a country with laws that

Effect the rich as well as the poor? :shrug:

[bdab1973]

40. The VAST majority of airline accidents are caused by pilot error...NT

[Catherine Vincent]

34. This was Benjamin Linus fault!

:)

[conspirator]

39. It could have been a colision with an alien probe. Just sayin nt