Thread: Hole in plane

You buy newspapers?

apparently this particular 747 has had a problematic history of something we can all sympathise with....

corrosion

Been on that flight ( QF30 ) HK - Mel quite a few times.
Lucky it happened early and they still had Manila to drop down in to.

Originally Posted by p38arover

You buy newspapers?

No, but some of the neighbours do.

Originally Posted by xxXX_LR V8_XXxx

apparently this particular 747 has had a problematic history of something we can all sympathise with....

corrosion

Another victim of the media I see.

The only corrosion on the plane was/is around the seat fastening points, a fare way from where the hole in the fuselage is.

The only thing you believe in papers is the date and the price.

Media

Yeah "plane falls 20,000 feet" - otherwise known as 'descending'....

See for example Corrosion 'didn't cause hole in jumbo' - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

The actual cause is probably not obvious, or it would have come to light already. They are apparently supposed to publish a factual result of the investigation within 30 days, so waiting for that is probably going to be a bit more productive than speculation.

In the meantime, spare a thought for the passengers - since the aircraft is in "quarantine"* until the inspection team releases it, I expect so is all the luggage, particularly since there must be at least a suspicion that someone's luggage had something to do with it. (one possibility that comes to mind is a leakage of mercury from a thermometer in someone's luggage). And of course, there is at least the likelihood that some luggage has been lost through the hole.

John

*From memory, the only things that may be removed from a plane the subject of an accident investigation are passengers, crew, animals and mail. I don't believe that even perishable cargo is allowed to be removed.

Of course there is the question as to whether this is an accident or an incident, but I suspect the Philippine authorities, who have physical custody, will err on the side of caution. Last I saw the ATSB had classified it as an incident, but the US NTSB had classified it as an accident. The Australian definitions however, should classify it as an accident, since it resulted in significant damage to an aircraft, so I expect the ATSB will reclassify it as an accident.

It is unclear whose airspace it happened in, probably international, but since the hull is Australian registered, the lead investigation team will be ATSB, no doubt with help from FAA and Boeing experts, with the world's airlines taking a close interest.

I have a bit of a problem trying to come to grips why any "official body" whether Australian, American or otherwise, must investigate the probable cause of this incident/accident when we have perfectly good journalists working in our various media outlets (some with in excess of 2 years experience, mind you) who seem perfectly able to make any judgements deemed necessary on this and many other incidents around the world today.
Regards
Glen