Update: Large Hole on Qantas Plane Due to Oxygen Tank
Remember that Qantas plane that made an emergency landing in Manila last month and was found to have a huge hole on its fuselage?
After a joint investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and Qantas Airways officials, a preliminary report was released today by the ATSB. The report said that a pressurized oxygen cylinder exploded, blowing out the 9-foot hole on the side of the plane.
The oxygen canisters have featured early in the investigation. There was one (missing) canister right at the location of the hole.
The safety procedures of Qantas Airways are being reviewed by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Let’s hope that the exploding oxygen cylinder was an isolated incident.
via Al Jazeera Asia-Pacific; image used with permission from Newscom.
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September 1st, 2008 at 2:45 am
Reminds me of the same incident that aborted the Apollo 13 mission. It was also an oxygen tank that exploded and doomed the mission.
But it also turned it into a dramatic story of human survival and character.