Manufacturing Industry
Oxygen tank exploded on Qantas aircraft, investigators say
Airline Industry Information, July 30, 2008
AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Investigators have said that the hole in a Qantas aircraft which made an emergency landing on 25 July was caused when an oxygen cylinder exploded.
The Boeing 747-400 aircraft, flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne, diverted to the Philippines after the incident caused a loss of cabin pressure at 29,000 feet.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has reported that an oxygen cylinder exploded through the floor of the passenger cabin. Fragments of the cylinder and valve moved a door frame handle part way towards the open position.
The door handle mechanism was sheared, as it is designed to do when an attempt is made to open the door in flight, the ATSB said. It has been confirmed that the door latches were still engaged when the aircraft landed.
The descent to 10,000 feet, where no oxygen masks are required, took about five and half minutes. Investigators found that most of the oxygen masks had deployed correctly from the passenger modules and had been pulled to activate the flow of oxygen to the mask; however a small number of masks did not deploy. Investigations into this are continuing.
The ATSB has also confirmed that the aircraft's three Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) and its anti-skid system were not available for the arrival and landing at Manila. However, all the aircraft's main systems, including engines and hydraulics, were apparently functioning normally.
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