MIR 2 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Qantas plane makes emergency landing A Qantas Boeing 747 passenger plane flying from London to Melbourne has made an emergency landing in Manila after technical problems, the airport manager told AFP. The pilots "requested an emergency landing and it was granted," airport manager Alfonso Cusi said, adding he did not know what the exact problem was. Passengers reportedly said the plane, which was flying via Hong Kong with about 300 passengers and crew, plunged 20,000 feet (6,010 metres) after a door apparently "popped" midflight. Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported on its website that passengers reported experiencing a "fairly explosive" depressurisation in the cabin which led to oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling. One passenger reported that the pilot did "an amazing job" of controlling the aircraft. A Qantas spokeswoman refused to confirm or deny an emergency landing had taken place but said the aircraft had been diverted to Manila and was nowundergoing inspection on the ground. "The aircraft is on the ground and is undergoing an inspection," she told AFP. "We are still gathering all the data," she said in Sydney. However a Qantas assistant supervisor in Manila said the plane had made an emergency landing, although the incident had not been "life threatening" and the aircraft had landed safely. "The aircraft made an emergency landing just after 11:00 am (local time)" Qantas assistant supervisor at Manila's international airport Lorena Dimaya told AFP. She said the aircraft had taken off from Hong Kong when it "encountered some technical problems and requested to be diverted to Manila where it made an emergency landing." "All (passengers and crew) have been taken off the aircraft and have been taken to hotels in Manila," she said. She said the aircraft was carrying "about 300 passengers and crew". © 2008 AFP Aircraft is VH-OJK. Area of hole is R/H side below door 2R. Some of the passengers said dat the plane suddenly plunged from 30,000 feet to 10,000 feet!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chan CS 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 20,000 feet is quite a lot! I wonder anyone hurt? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ignatius 4 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 A Qantas Boeing 747 passenger plane flying from London to Melbourne via Hong Kong was forced to make the emergency landing in Manila today after technical problems. Passengers say that the plane, which was carrying about 300 people, plunged 20,000 feet (6,010 metres) after a door apparently “popped” mid-flight and caused rapid depressurisation in the cabin. A Qantas spokeswoman refused to confirm or deny an emergency landing had taken place but said the aircraft had been diverted to Manila. “The aircraft is on the ground and is undergoing an inspection,” she said. “We are still gathering all the data.” A Qantas assistant supervisor in Manila said the plane had made an emergency landing but the incident had not been “life threatening”. “The aircraft made an emergency landing just after 11am (local time)” said Qantas assistant supervisor at Manila's international airport Lorena Dimaya. She said the aircraft had taken off from Hong Kong when it “encountered some technical problems and requested to be diverted to Manila where it made an emergency landing”. “All (passengers and crew) have been taken off the aircraft and have been taken to hotels in Manila,” she said. She said the aircraft was carrying “about 300 passengers and crew”. The plane had a “hole near its wing,” Manila International Airport Authority deputy for security, Angel Atutubo, was quoted as telling local radio. A report on the GMA 7 television website said the pilot demanded an emergency landing after “a big hole appeared on the plane's right belly, just near the aircraft's right wing”. Flight QF30, which left Hong Kong at 9am, had been due to arrive in Melbourne at 9:45pm (7.45pm Perth time), according to the Qantas website. MANILA Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FK Wong 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 (edited) 20000ft is pretty normal looking at the situation where you can only have oxygen for a normal person to breathe normally without the oxygen mask at 10000ft. So imagine if you were cruising at 40000ft . The rupture might have been caused by the fatigue on the structure of the a/c. Edited July 25, 2008 by FK Wong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hakan 2 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 the news said that " door popped" but I can see only a hole undercarriege on cargo compartment. As far as I know, there was a fuselage part in front of wings where connect to airplane body. is it causing by bird strike? (in 40.000ft?!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yusoff 1 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/4486...6adfaa24bb7.jpg Wow! Awesome! Thanks for the pic Lukas! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Azmir I. 1 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 20000ft is pretty normal looking at the situation where you can only have oxygen for a normal person to breathe normally without the oxygen mask at 10000ft. So imagine if you were cruising at 40000ft . The rupture might have been caused by the fatigue on the structure of the a/c. In any case,the pilots would have executed an emergency descent to a safer altitude and looking at the picture it looks like the area affected was around the starboard ACP (Aircond packs). To any pilot,decompression is always taken seriously,be it at FL200 or FL 400. I myself have experienced decompression once on the B733 while flying at FL350 from BKK to JHB and it happened just after passing over KBR.Luckily no one was seriously hurt.The same goes to the QF flight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MIR 2 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Lucky that it didn't happen like the Aloha Flight 243 incident. Scenes aboard Qantas Airways QF30 after the cabin lost pressure.. Well..i guess this poor 747 will end up at a scrapyard in Manila !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Chai 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Like the united airlines 811... Carriage leakage but this one not serious.... Luckily Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yusoff 1 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Well..i guess this poor 747 will end up at a scrapyard in Manila !! Cant fix that anymore? Too much of structural damage? Aviation Herald just kicked in: Qantas B744 near Manila on Jul 25th 2008, large hole in fuselage at FL290 By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Jul 25th 2008 09:10Z, last updated Friday, Jul 25th 2008 09:26Z A Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400, registration VH-OJK performing flight QF30 from Hong Kong (China) to Melbourne,VI (Australia) with 346 passengers and 19 crew, was climbing through FL290 departing Hong Kong, when the crew initiated an emergency descent after cabin pressure was suddenly lost with a loud bang. The crew levelled the airplane at FL100 and diverted to Manila (Philippines), where the airplane landed safely. No injuries have been reported. A large hole, about 2 by 3 meters, had opened in the right hand side of the fuselage at the wing root, where a section of the fuselage separated from the airplane. The aircraft taxied to the gate without assistance, the Australian Transportation Safety Board reported. Passengers reported, that they heard a loud boom, then bits of wood and debris flew through the cabin, then oxygen masks deployed. Passengers were told in flight, that a door had popped. After the hole had opened, parts of the floor of the airplane gave way, the ceiling of the airplane partly collapsed. Gosh!!... Thank god. It could have been worse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin Andrew David 6 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Good execution by pilots , media makes the 20000ft drop sound like it was unintentional and the plane was outta control . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ignatius 4 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Media words are always meant to be sensational.. they are either very good at exagerating over it or very good at talking nonsense without noticing it BUt wow.. those hole .. anyway are the central fuel tanks soewhere near that hole? Luggage looks intake.. , I hope we get to learn what caused this incident.. I do hope they(Qantas) aren't going to blame Asian maintenance for this <_> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kenneth T 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Lucky it's not the emergency exit. I think the plane may not fly again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Y. J. Foo 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 (edited) Compare this on N4713U to what on VH-OJK the latter's damage seems relatively trivial. If what happened to UA811 could be fixed why can't this?? :unknw: Either way according to A.net posts the plane made its last check at Avalon . So sadly for QF they couldn't shift blame to an Asian country... :rolleyes: Edited July 25, 2008 by Y. J. Foo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Keith T 2 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Am on QF30 on Sunday, thankfully not today! Hopefully this doesn't cause some skeds muck up, or (god forbid) eqp chg! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Simon 3 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 It looks like an explosion that cause the damage. It was lucky that the debris didn't hit the engine or wing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CV Thian 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 (edited) Found this video on youtube showing in-flight scenes during the emergency and after the aircraft has landed http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=fU7kIqC9XEo Edited July 25, 2008 by Chow Vi Thian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hon Kit 3 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 wow! that guy who recorded it must be brave and calm. critical moment still can record the scene. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HijazKamalHasnan 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Hope Qantas or any drongo will not blame us Asians again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ashmil Abd Ghani 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Wow guys..what a big hole on the cargo compartment.. :blink: Emm maybe in 5 years later will able to see what actually happen to this bird on National Geographic Channel..hehe.. Any possible this aircraft will fly back? or will go to grave yard.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KK Lee 5 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 From observation, my speculation; The decompression was not caused by explosion of bomb or oxygen bottle. The separation of wing to body fairing is quite clean, consistent to fatigue or crack. After separation, the air flow weaken and ruptured the aluminium skin i.e. decompression. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Derek Siu 0 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 oh my god, so what causes this to happen? but thanks god it landed safely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naim 6 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 (edited) Are you sure they won't blame Asians? Lookee here! Malaysia is even mentioned for good measure. Pilot: outsourcing work is to blame Article from: Herald Sun July 26, 2008 12:00am A SENIOR Qantas pilot said yesterday's mid-air calamity could have been the result of the company outsourcing maintenance to Malaysia. "This could well be the direct result of Qantas having stand-in engineers, or from outsourcing maintenance to Malaysia," he said. "It has been talked about a lot here and we have been told to be extra vigilant when you walk around the aircraft. "With Qantas outsourcing maintenance to Malaysia, (it) is certainly worrying a lot of us pilots. "There have been aircraft with dodgy staples to secure wiring." Unions have mounted aggressive campaigns against Qantas over its decision to permanently increase the amount of critical maintenance work done offshore. They believe the overseas standards are inferior to Australia. About 15-20 per cent of Qantas engineering has been done offshore for the past 50 years. The latest incident comes several months after another Qantas 747-400 was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok. The jet narrowly avoided disaster after losing all power from its generators 15 minutes before landing and was forced to land on battery power. The failure was caused to a leaking drip tray in the aircraft's galley. In March, a Qantas 747-400 jet blew three tyres while landing at Los Angeles airport, with the pilot instructing passengers to brace themselves. The Boeing 747 is one of the safest, most robust aircraft in the world. Several years ago a United Airlines jumbo en route to Australia suffered a major door failure which ripped open the fuselage and resulted in passengers being sucked out, but the aircraft landed safely. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...86-2862,00.html Qantas plane suffered corrosion July 25, 2008 11:39pm THE Qantas plane forced to make an emergency landing in the Philippines after a massive hole opened up in its fuselage had been plagued by a history of corrosion. News Limited reports today that engineers discovered a large amount of corrosion in the Qantas jumbo during a major refurbishment earlier this year. The 17-year-old Boeing 747-400, registration VH-OJK, received a new interior at Victoria's Avalon Airport in March. Aviation sources said aircraft engineers had noted a "lot" of corrosion during the refit, the report said. QF Flight 30 from London to Melbourne had left Hong Kong airport yesterday after a stopover at 9am local time, (11am AEST), when an explosion ripped through the plane's underside. Some of the 346 passengers aboard told of how debris flew through the cabin and oxygen masks dropped down. The crew brought the plane down to 10,000 feet and requested an emergency landing in Manila, where emergency crews were on hand when it touched down safely. Qantas said it had arranged for a replacement plane to fly to Manila to collect the passengers return them immediately to Melbourne. The replacement Boeing 747 was expected to leave the Philippines capital shortly after 11pm local time last night (0100 AEST today), to arrive in Melbourne this morning (AEST). http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,2605...5014090,00.html Edited July 25, 2008 by Naim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yusoff 1 Report post Posted July 25, 2008 Hah?!! Still blaming the Asians!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
