Posted on 07/25/2008 6:58:31 AM PDT by cardinal4
MANILA, Philippines — A Qantas flight en route to Australia from London made an emergency stop in Manila on Friday after a loud bang punched a hole in the Boeing 747-400's fuselage, officials and passengers said.
(Excerpt) Read more at artoriuscastus.blogspot.com ...
I hate it when that happens..
Aviation ping
Any bomb involved?
I wonder if this has already been posted. I wonder if this is from the AP which banned on FR.
Sounds like a door blew. Door seal, maybe?
AP-via Fox-via my blog. Is that not allowed?
I am so sick of these idiot journalists who know nothing, obivously failed grade school composition and think that they are fit to instruct the rest of the world on what are the important things that they should discuss.
Unless it is the shockwave from the detonation of a high explosive, a loud bang did not punch a whole in the fuselage. Something punched a hole in the fuselage, or there was a structural failure resulting in a hole in the fuselage, during which even a loud noise (i.e. bang) was made.
Idiots. Flunked grade school science as well as composition.
ap writer writes “loud bang punched a hole.” I wonder if he knows the difference between cause and effect.
I say make any outlet using the term "news" into a non-profit. Instantly, two things will happen: far fewer outlets using the term "news", and far more factual stories coming from those who do.
This AP article/via St. Pete Times, calls the explosion “mysterious,” but explosives experts were called in.
“Why can’t reporter write accurately. The plane did not “dive” or “plunge” or whatever 20,000 ft. The pilots executed an emergency descent to 10,000ft. The plane was entirely under the control of the pilots at all time during its flight.”
“I am so sick of these idiot journalists who know nothing, obivously failed grade school composition and think that they are fit to instruct the rest of the world on what are the important things that they should discuss.”
I
see nothing wrong with either word. Was this plane in a steep descent? If so, that’s exactly what a dive is when referring to a plane, according to the dictionary, and therefore is being used perfectly. Did it plunge? I don’t know, but according to the story that was a quote from passengers. Is the reporter supposed to stop and say, “Hey, IMO you weren’t officially in a plunge so quit using that word?”
In any event, if I’m on a plane when I hear a loud pop, feel sudden decompression, watch the oxygen masks come down, notice that the floor is buckled and there’s a hole, and then feel a quick descent, I’m going to be scared you-know-whatless. You can assure me all day long that it wasn’t a “plunge,” but it hardly matters.
Oh...but remember...the truth matters not to them...it’s all about the drama!
Hehehe - one of the best movies ever - ten minutes to Wapner, definitely, ten minutes to Wapner...
“Oh...but remember...the truth matters not to them...it’s all about the drama!”
Let’s see, you’re on a plane when you hear a loud pop, feel “explosive” decompression, watch the oxygen masks come down, notice that the floor is buckled and there’s a hole, and then feel a quick descent. Passengers are applauding the crew in relief and some are throwing up. I’m not sure about you, but in my book that qualifies for “drama” no matter how any reporter describes it.
K-Mart sucks.
We have that on radio, it's called National Liberal Radio and the show All Things Liberal. On TV, it's the Liberal Broadcasting Service. In print, it's the Congressional Register.
Thank you. Something may have been pulled into the engine. The pilots were experienced and calm. Qantas Rules.
Explosion in the cargo bay?
That looks like the Captain. I wondered earlier if it was a door seal. Now Im wondering if it was bad rivets?
And he is still right!
I read that aluminum planes require maintenance after approx 30K take off and landings to prevent stress fractures and fatigue related failures. After the cabin is pressurized so many times the aluminum becomes brittle and cracks will appear. I don’t know if this is the case with this plane, but it’s as good a guess as any.
The close-up photo doesn't appear to reveal any evidence of explosive-related burns or the like, so if it wasn't an airframe/mechanical failure of some sort, may have been a can/cannister/tank under pressure in the cargo or passenger baggage that exploded.
I’ve been on at least one Qantas 747.Given that they don’t have all that many I wonder if this is the one (or one of the ones) I’ve been on.
The hole is a long way from any engine. Looks like something blew up in the cargo hold. Passengers said they could see into the cargo hold through the hole in the cabin floor, and that sure looks like cargo peeking out the hole in the fuselage.
Maybe an amateur terrorist bomb. Or maybe just some moron passenger put something in their luggage that shouldn’t have been there and some moron security screener missed it. I get the feeling there’s not a whole lot of screening of checked luggage being done. You could put all sorts of interesting liquids in there, in deliberately leaky bottles, adjacent to other leaky bottles containing interesting liquids. Or just a single bottle with a flimsy partition between 2 liquids, that will break down in the course of the flight.
I’m shocked it took 16 posts to reference that quote.
It looks like the wall of the plane is dented out, in addition to the hole.
I see a big problem with the whole sentence constuct "the plane dove 20,000ft" as if the plane had a mind of its own, or else as if the pilots lost control and only got control back in the nick of time.
Instead, from everything I can tell, the pilots were in control, and in response to the sudden cabin depressurization, the pilots executed a rapid, but completely controlled descent, as is standard emergency procedure to a level at which cabin pressure does not lead to the rabid depletion of oxygen from the brain causing death.
and a hole didn’t rip mid air either. Something caused the hole. The only thing that is ripped is this reporters fractured English. Maybe he was out late and got ripped. Sounds like he was ripped all the way through journalism school, anyway. Whatever happened to who what where when why and how or whatever it is that they are learn when they aren’t tripping on drugs.
I'd bet they have one of the larger fleets; in fact I just looked it up...currently 34, but most of their equipment in the '80s were 747's
I've flown 'em both between L.A. and Sydney, Sydney and Perth and Singapore and Perth.
Hmmm,I'm surprised that it's that many.I know that they use them between Oz and the US and between Oz and the UK (their prime routes).I always thought of Qantas as being a relatively small airline...perhaps because of the country's small population.
The investigation will reveal exactly what occurred in this case.
They’re all over Asia...my Aussie buddies travel QANTAS regularly over that entire section of the world.
It appears the cargo door partially opened and came close to tearing out completely.
agreed
I thought that too, but then I remembered that triacetone triperoxide, TATP, AKA the Mother of Satan, is a favored Jihadie explosive. It was used in the 2005(?) London train bombings, by the idiot who blew himself up outside an OK U football game, and by Richard Reid, who had plastic explosive shoes, but with a TATP detonator.
The stuff produces a pretty "cool" explosion, by the nature of the reaction which produces it.
So I wouldn't rule out an explosion just yet. But the stuff does leave quite a signature, so we should know soon, if they choose to tell us. (TATP contains no nitrogen, and thus can "get by", *some* explosive detection devices.)
The cargo door is that rectangular structure somewhat to the right of the hole, just above the head of the guy in the suit talking on a cell phone.
The hole appears to be a ripped off fairing/panel, but not one that is designed to come off. Can't really tell if it was ripped off by aerodynamic forces, say after an edge failed due to stress or corrosion, or if something pushed it out from inside.
You’right.
Whatever, it was still absolutely a “dive.” No question about it.
It doesn’t look like an explosion at all. It looks like a faring on the wing root came loose. When the wind pulled the faring off, it ripped a hole in the pressurized fuselage leading to additional damage from decompression.
Explosion in the cargo bay?Looks just forward of the cockpit ...
/sarc
LOOK at the proximity to the outward-opening forward cargo bay door though ...
It doesn’t look like an explosion at all. It looks like a faring on the wing root came loose.Nevermind what looks like pressure-skin rupture just outside of the structural ribs comprising the 'hold' or baggage compartment ...
It appears the cargo door partially opened and ...???
Take a second look at the 2nd pix in post #24 and issue a revised analysis please.
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