Unusual for the skin to fail rather than a door blow out a la Turkish DC10 etc. Do any of you remember BA's 747 100's and 200's that went to HKG (HAECO) for modifications and cabin upgrades (sunset 1 & 2) in the early 80's?
One 747-136 (G-AWNB I think) on the r/h/s forward of door 1R, the stringers and springers had detached from the airframe around the side area where the fuselage is almost flat. After that all the 747's had their "front ends" stripped down and modified. I think some of the work was subbed out to a company in Oz.