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Hole in Airplane Forces Emergency Landing

Posted on: Friday, 25 July 2008, 09:00 CDT

Qantas Airways officials in Manila are investigating what caused a door to break free of an airplane in flight Friday, blowing a hole in the fuselage.

Qantas flight QF30 from London to Melbourne, carrying 300 passengers and crew, plummeted 20,000 feet after the faulty door caused the cabin to depressurize, The Times of London reported Friday.

The airliner was diverted to Manila. Octavio Lina, the airport's deputy manager for operations said a hole measuring between 7 to 9 feet was on the right side of the fuselage near the wing.

Upon disembarkation, there were some passengers who vomited, Ding Lima, airport operations officer at the Manila airport. You can see in their faces that they were really scared.

The Boeing 747 had just taken off from a stop in Hong Kong when the incident happened.

Passengers praised the actions of the pilot and crew.

The crew were terrific, they were really good, they kept everyone calm and told people what to do and helped people with their (oxygen) masks and things, Brendan McClements, an Australian businessman, told the Times. Their reactions had a very calm effect on the other passengers.

Source: United Press International

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