Yes, QANTAS was lucky in that the debris didn't hole the fuel tank but the rest of the luck was manufactured. Manufactured by investment in excellent training which has been paid back time and time again by their flight crews.
As far as I am aware the only time this has not happened is when the flight crew was given a s**t sandwich by way of SOPs' in Bangkok. I am referring to mainline here and not the assorted sundry hangers-on. There may have been other occasions but I cannot recall them now.
The lesson for the bean counters is that investing in top maintenance and crew training is a no-brainer. It will repay its value over and over again. As has been said before, if you think training is expensive just try having a crash or even an incident.