Qantas 747 Jet Lands Despite Giant Hole

[BAM]

(Road Runner @ Aug. 01 2008,02:42) The likelyhood of one just going bang on it's own is practically zero.

RR.

Unless is says "Made in China" on it  

My Diesel Generator started to leak oil at the pump cover after 10 hours of service. I opened it up and took a close look at the O-ring seal that had a small imperfection in it that was allowing the oil to leak past. No doubt this part was defective from the start. I called the manufacture that informed me that they had a batch of bad O-rings that came from China. I replaced the O-ring myself at a cost of 30 cents and all seems well.

Now think what if Qantas starts using Chinese made parts€¦ and all the hydraulic fluid leaks out of a jet while in flight€¦ a bad O-ring? A 30 cent part.

[Road Runner]

'O' rings.....  yes I agree  -  there must be at least as many of them as there are people in the world and I'd guess 5-10% at least are made in China these days.

Oxygen cylinders are less common and as a pressure vessel the controls and checks are naturally much more strict.
Plus the aviation industry (thankfully) has a very high degree or regulation which generally is well policed.
Though there are exceptions  -  Phuket Air and Garuda are good examples.

My guess is that the cylinder itself did not fail but rather a connection failed and the cylinder propelled itself out of the aircraft.
I don't like speculating about these sort of things though as it will add nothing to the investigation.

The Australian aviation authorities investigation should be thoroughly efficient and I seriously doubt they are going to succumb to influence from 'interested' parties'.

Edit:- I just looked at the video clip you posted Bam. The plane was called Longreach - that's where Qantas was actually started! There is even a museum there sponsored by and featuring the history of Qantas.
The other thing I notice is that the 'huge hole' looks suspiciously like the fairing around the forward wing root.


RR.

[Tomcat]

(allstar88 @ Jul. 27 2008,17:36) its the grumpy crap service you get on board that stops me going with them

This is so true. Other than BA , Qantas is the worst airline ive ever been on. Talk about miserable tetchy cunts....never again...Grrrrrrrrrr

I only use EVA or Cathay now....

Even the Raghead airlines are better than Quantas

[Torurot]

Billy69 is an expert on O rings, and the quality control thereof.

[bigmick22]

(Tomcat @ Aug. 01 2008,04:46) This is so true. Other than BA , Qantas is the worst airline ive ever been on. Talk about miserable tetchy cunts....never again...Grrrrrrrrrr

I agree - I was genuinely surprised at how unfriendly the staff were when I flew with Qantas.