> http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24078132-2,00.html
>
>
> Qantas plane has history of corrosion
>
> July 26, 2008 12:57am
> Article from: The Daily Telegraph
>
> * Blast forces Qantas planeto make emergency landing
> * It had a history of corrosion
> * Maintenance standards also questioned
>
> THE Qantas plane forced to make an emergency landing yesterday after a
> massive hole tore through its side had been plagued by a history of
> corrosion.
>
> The Daily Telegraph can reveal engineers discovered a large amount of
> corrosion in the Qantas jumbo during a major refurbishment earlier this
> year.
>
> The 17-year-old Boeing 747-400, registration VH-OJK, received a new
> interior at Victoria's Avalon airport in March.
>
> Aviation sources last night revealed that aircraft engineers had noted a
> "lot" of corrosion during the refit.
>
> QF Flight 30 from London to Melbourne had left Hong Kong airport after a
> stopover at 9am local time (11am AEST) when a loud explosion ripped
> through the plane's underside.
>
> Some of the 346 terrified passengers onboard the flight last night told
> of how debris - including bits of wood - flew through the first-class
> cabin and oxygen masks dropped down.
>
> Experts said the hole, measuring about 2mx4m, could have been caused by
> metal fatigue, an internal explosion or a combination of both.
>
> Any breach of an aircraft's skin above 10,000 feet can lead to a loud
> explosion, de-pressurisation and an immediate loss of cabin pressure.
>
> The plane - under the command of Captain John Bartels - was travelling
> at 29,000 feet when it lost pressure and descended 20,000 feet before
> making an emergency landing at Manila airport.
>
> The damage occurred at a point called the wing root fairing, close to
> where the aircraft's highly explosive oxygen bottles are stored.
>
> Australian investigators were last night travelling to Manila to inspect
> the damaged aircraft, while Qantas said a replacement aircraft had been
> organised and was expected to leave Manila at 1am today.
>
> According to aviation experts, investigators would also closely examine
> the maintenance regime of the ageing 747, registered in 1991.
>
> They would also focus on what happened at Hong Kong airport before the
> flight departed.
>
> "The aircraft are getting a bit old and the engineers have been on
> strike so they might be flying with lower maintenance standards," one
> insider said.
>
> Under regulations commercial aircraft are permitted to fly with known
> defects under official waivers.
>
> The team of four investigators from the Australian Transport Safety
> Bureau will assist local authorities with their investigation into the
> incident.
>
> When asked if terrorism and explosives could have been involved an ATSB
> spokesman said that would be "an aspect of the investigation".
>
> However he stressed that the drama yesterday was being treated as an air
> safety incident.
>
> While the cause of the explosion is yet to be determined, senior Qantas
> pilots last night expressed their fears the latest safety incident was a
> result of poor checks done overseas.
>
> A senior Qantas pilot told The Daily Telegraph yesterday's mid-air
> calamity could have been the result of the company's outsourcing of
> maintenance to Malayasia.
>
> "This could be the result of Qantas having stand-in engineers, or from
> outsourcing to Malaysia," he said.
>
> "It has been talked about a lot here and we have been told to be extra
> vigilant when you walk around the aircraft. Qantas outsourcing
> maintenance to Malaysia is certainly worrying a lot of us pilots. There
> has been aircraft come back with dodgy staples to secure wiring."
>
> Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon confirmed that the aircraft had "a hole in its
> fuselage" and that it was being inspected.
>
> "The flight, which originated in London, landed in Manila about 11.15am
> local time," Mr Dixon said.
> "All 346 passengers and 19 crew disembarked normally and there were no
> reports of any injuries to passengers or crew."
>
> Unions have mounted aggressive campaigns against Qantas over its
> decision to permanently increase the amount of maintenance work it has
> done offshore.
>
> They believe the overseas standards are inferior to Australia.
>
> About 15-20 per cent of Qantas engineering has been done offshore for
> the past 50 years.
>
> The latest incident comes several months after another Qantas 747-400
> was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok.
>
> In 1989 a United Airlines B747 en route to Australia suffered a major
> door failure which ripped open the fuselage and resulted in nine
> passengers being sucked out.
>
> However the aircraft landed safely.