SAA skygod's 747-400 depresh
'I heard a loud bang'
26/09/2005 08:48 - (SA)
Carla Mouton
Johannesburg - "I thought the plane would fall. It sounded as if the door was going to blow out."
This was the reaction of a shocked Gary Lang on Sunday after a Boeing 747-400 of South African Airways (SAA) had to turn back to Johannesburg to perform an emergency landing on Saturday morning. Lang was one of 331 passengers on flight SA 190 to Mauritius.
The jumbo jet turned back about 20 minutes into the flight because an inside panel of a door on the top deck came undone.
"I heard a loud bang and suddenly it became very cold on the plane. The oxygen masks fell from the roof and the captain announced that he would be dropping the plane to 1 000 feet so that we could breathe more easily," another passenger, Robert Ferley, said.
He and his wife were on their way to Mauritius to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
"My wife, Gertrude, prayed throughout. It was very quiet on the plane."
The disappointed passengers were waiting in lines before the airport building on Saturday afternoon, waiting for busses to take them to hotels in the area.
"Bad, bad, bad. They should have made sure that the plane was in order. The crew members were also incompetent. They made us wait on our baggage for four hours and they simply turned their backs to us when we asked what was going on," an angry Teresa Barnard said.
Emotions were also running high because no oxygen apparently flowed from the masks that came down from the panels above their heads.
"The flight was scheduled to leave at 13:30, but was cancelled eventually because the crew was apparently too traumatised," Ilse Shenck, said. Two families who were on their way to assist in their children's wedding arrangements as well as the best man and flower girls, were frustrated as they were standing around.
"My son is getting married on Monday. If I am lucky, I'll be in time," Denise Hollander said.
Sarah Uys, SAA spokesperson, said it was the first time that something like this happened on a Boeing 747-400 flight.
"SAA will report this incident to the Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) and Boeing. It could prompt an inspection of the entire 747-400 fleet," Uys said.
Regarding the alleged lack of oxygen from the asks, Uys said it had not been necessary to use the masks.
Gilbert Thwala, chief executive of case investigations at the CAA, said on Sunday that a preliminary investigation has already been launched. "The plane apparently experienced pressure problems during the flight. At this stage, it seems as if there was a problem with a cabin door."
bunch of clowns!