ATW Daily News

Australian safety agency details QF 747 oxygen cylinder explosion

Monday September 1, 2008

Australian Transport Safety Bureau released a preliminary report on its investigation of last month's Qantas 747-400 decompression and fuselage hole incident (ATWOnline, July 31), saying it is "evident that one passenger oxygen cylinder had sustained a sudden failure and forceful discharge of its pressurized contents into the [forward] aircraft hold, rupturing the fuselage in the vicinity of the wing-fuselage leading edge fairing." It added, "The cylinder had been propelled upward by the force of the discharge, puncturing the cabin floor and entering the cabin adjacent to the second main cabin door. The cylinder had subsequently impacted the door frame, door handle and overhead paneling, before falling to the cabin floor and exiting the aircraft through the ruptured fuselage." ATSB said the aircraft made an "uneventful visual approach and landing" at Manila, to which it had been diverted, and that safety did not appear to be compromised despite the cylinder explosion.

QF CEO Geoff Dixon said the airline completed an inspection of the oxygen systems across its 747-400 fleet on Aug. 1, "which confirmed there were no safety issues." He also said the 747-400 that landed in Manila with a hole in its fuselage "was repairable at a cost of less than A$10 million ($8.6 million) and will be back in service in November 2008."

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