Cylinder fragments blasted into Qantas cabin: investigators

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — Fragments of an oxygen cylinder blasted into a Qantas jet's passenger cabin mid-flight with enough force to shear off a door lever when an explosion punctured the jet's body, investigators said Wednesday.

The Boeing 747-400, with a huge hole in its fuselage, then made an emergency landing in Manila last Friday without landing instruments and anti-skid safety systems, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said.

Bureau spokesman Julian Walsh said the cylinder fragments shifted the aircraft door's handle halfway to the open position after exploding through the floor of the passenger cabin, but the door held fast.

"It appears that part of an oxygen cylinder and valve entered the passenger cabin and impacted the number two right doorframe handle,...