Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Category: Aviation News

The theory that an oxygen tank meant to supply passengers and crew with oxygen in the case of an emergency may have exploded, tearing a hole the size of a car in the side of a Qantas jet on Friday has gained some credence since the investigation found a valve and a handle fragment in the passenger compartment close to where the missing tank was stored, reported a senior investigator from the Australian Transport and Safety Board. The investigator stated it is possible the valve was blown up into the passenger cabin while the body of the cylinder out the fuselage hole.

Flight QF 30 was en route to London from Melbourne with 365 passengers and crew aboard when they reported hearing a loud "bang", then the plane decompressed, and an eight inch hole in the floor send things flying around the compartment. After an emergency landing in Manila, emergency crews immediately saw the extent of the problem - a gaping hole at the point the front of the right wing attaches to the fuselage - and very close to where the oxygen cylinders are kept inside the cargo department. Luggage was exposed, but held in by the webbing that keeps it from shifting during the flight - obviously very strong webbing and attachment to the inside of the plane. The airlines continues to interview passengers, has received the flight data recorder, and has ordered all oxygen tanks on its 747-400 fleet to be inspected.

Earlier, the U.S. FAA had warned airlines to inspect oxygen systems on their planes, but Qantas head of engineering this directive applies to a different type of oxygen system from the one being investigated in this incident. Three other aircrafts were affected by the directive and all had been inspected by January 2007. Geoff Dixon said whatever caused the "very, very bad accident, was likely beyond the airline's control.

"We don't know and we can't speculate on what happened to this aircraft," Dixon told a news conference. "Obviously there is every chance it is something to do with the aircraft, and it is something that may have well been out of our control. More than likely it was."

Australian Transport Safety Bureau along with Boeing and the U.S. NTSB are inspecting the aircraft in Manila.