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Metal Fatigue Possible On Jet

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The New York Times

Published: July 27, 2008

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian and American investigators on Saturday were exploring the possibility that either an explosion in the cargo hold - possibly by oxygen canisters - or metal fatigue caused the fuselage of a Qantas Airlines passenger jet to burst open in flight, forcing an emergency landing.

During their first look inside the plane on Saturday, investigators discovered shards of oxygen bottles throughout the cargo hold and in the floor above, which is below the cabin, said one person with direct knowledge of the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity. Investigators do not know if the oxygen canister caused the damage, but they theorize that it may have played a role.

In the jet, a hole the size of a car was found in a cargo area under the business class section of the cabin, officials said. The plane, a Boeing 747-400 operating as Qantas Flight 30 from Hong Kong to Melbourne, Australia, landed safely in the Philippines, and no one was hurt.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dixon told reporters Saturday he was "horrified" after seeing pictures of the aircraft's gaping hole, but that it was too early to speculate on what caused the damage.

"There are thousands of aircraft flying around the world today, things happen. Something has happened here and we cannot speculate any more about what did happen," Dixon said.
Aviation experts said the hole might have appeared when a part of the plane meant to reduce wind resistance pulled away from the fuselage. In Washington, a senior counterterrorism official said that there was no indication of terrorism.

Peter Gibson, spokesman for Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said speculation that rust contributed to the accident could be discounted.

"It's clearly an extremely rare and unusual event that a hole opens up in the fuselage," he told reporters in Australia. "I know there's a number of theories around, but they're just that at this stage, they're just theories. We don't have the solid facts."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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