An oxygen cylinder is missing from the Qantas 747 jumbo that was forced to make an emergency landing after a mid-air explosion punched a hole in its fuselage, an Australian investigator said in Manila today.
"It is too early to say whether this was the cause of the explosion," Neville Blyth from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) told a media briefing in Manila this afternoon.
"But one of the cylinders which provides back up oxygen is missing."
Meanwhile, the Associated Press said Blyth told the conference investigators had found no sign a bomb caused the hole.
He said tests for bomb residue were negative and Philippine officials had bomb-sniffing dogs go through the hold, finding no indication of explosives.
Qantas ordered to inspect every oxygen bottle
Qantas has been ordered to urgently inspect every oxygen bottle aboard its fleet of 30 Boeing 747s after the mid-air explosion.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority expects the inspections to begin by tomorrow and be finished within a few days.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said Qantas would be asked to check each oxygen container and the brackets holding the containers.
"It will be a visual inspection and it is a precautionary step," Mr Gibson said.
"The inspection will take a couple of hours for each plane so it will take a few days to do them all."
CASA is investigating whether an exploding oxygen container was responsible for ripping a jagged hole in the fuselage of flight QF30 from London to Melbourne.
