Qantas jet drama ‘due to oxygen explosion’

Steven Swinford and Paul Eddy
London Times
Sunday, July 27, 2008

INVESTIGATORS are focusing on the possibility that exploding oxygen tanks were responsible for blowing a gaping hole in the fuselage of a Qantas Boeing 747 plane at 29,000ft.

A team from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found debris scattered through the cargo hold from two oxygen tanks holding a two-hour emergency supply for the pilots. The roof above them appears to have been pushed up by the force of an explosion.

Investigators are working on the theory that the explosion was caused by impact from loose cargo or the corrosion of the tanks themselves.

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A source close to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia said: “It is looking extremely likely that one or more of the oxygen tanks exploded. It’s never happened before so nobody knows what caused it. It could be as simple as some cargo shifting and smashing into it, which shouldn’t be able to happen.”

The investigators added, however, that it is too early to discount metal fatigue, whereby the fuselage is weakened over time by the expansion and contraction of the plane during take-off and landing. This creates tiny cracks in the fuselage which are invisible to the eye, but which can eventually give way.

Flight QF30 from London to Melbourne was an hour into its leg from Hong Kong to Melbourne on Friday morning when a gaping hole appeared in the front right side of the plane. Part of the ceiling in the passenger cabin collapsed, some of the flooring gave way and debris flew across the first class section.

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