Qantas 744 Depressurisation
Join Date: Aug 2003
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Frame broken
The frame being taken out shows that some force was applied to it, corrosion no chance underpants, lets talk force to do this type damage and its not a decompression.
OXY or a bomb thats for sure. iside the AKE can i would say
The B744 is the brick s*ithouse of the sky....
OXY or a bomb thats for sure. iside the AKE can i would say
The B744 is the brick s*ithouse of the sky....
CNN have amateur video taken by a pax with the seat back screen showing the a/c at 10,000ft. The masks are down and the pax seem calm and the cabin crew doing a trolley service. There is the inevitable round of applause after touchdown.
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The stuff hanging out of the aircraft is not pax baggage from bins and looks more like cargo off a pallet, you can see the rope style tie downs off the pallet in the picture showed, it could be mail, cargo or pax bags on a metal pallet possibly, if there were ULD's in there I think you would see them showing possibly?
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The stuff hanging out of the aircraft is not pax baggage from bins and looks more like cargo off a pallet, you can see the rope style tie downs off the pallet in the picture showed, it could be mail, cargo or pax bags on a metal pallet possibly, if there were ULD's in there I think you would see them showing possibly?
There is the possibility that the bags are from an AKC that didn't have a bin in front of it, and the curtain wasn't shut or failed. I'd love to see the load sheet for this aircraft
I can't see this investigation being too difficult, plenty of evidence, and thankfully an intact (mostly) aircraft.
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The Real Unfriendly Skies, Saga of Corruption, Rodney Stich, picture
Plenty of frame taken out there, but no "other" forces - just a failed door, and decompression.
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My money would be on the fibre-glass honeycomb fairing failing first. As has been described by Mechanical Man (747 engineer), the fairing is screwed on. In the close-up photo, you can see the fairing at the front has failed (cracked or been pulled away from the screws) along the screw line. At the rear edge the screw holes are still there. However there is a bracket/strap still attached to the hull - lower centre. Is this used to attach the fairing in any way? (Perhaps mechanical man might confirm?) Is there a corresponding bracket on the upper half (where no metal exists now)? There is a scenario that the fairing came off due to wind pressure, and due to damage or failure of the leading edge screws. Once on the move, with the bottom bracket/strap already failed, the only retainer left would be this upper bracket ??? (if it exists) that, if it is like the lower one, seemingly is attached direct to the fuselage. (Maybe the fairing flailed around for some seconds) Coupled to a degree of corrosion at the same point, the force could be enough to initiate/propogate a crack, cause pressure failure and the rupture of the alu as seen. 
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Worrisome!
Anyone have any info on just how much of the cabin floor collapsed? As I recall, the infamous Turkish DC10/cargo door crash occurred due to the explosive decompression collapsing part of the aft floor, through which controls to the tail section were routed. I think (please correct me if I'm wrong!) that due to the high placement of the 747 cockpit, the flight controls are routed along the upper fuselage and not the floor in the area of this plane's damage.
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true a 12 ft x 8 ft flap of a fwd cargo door applies no force at all, get real???
look at the skin its all blown out frame broken and torn the the decompression would not do this, have you never seen myth busters?
diff press wont do this
look at the skin its all blown out frame broken and torn the the decompression would not do this, have you never seen myth busters?
diff press wont do this
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I'm with you IF789. There's no sign of charring on the exposed luggage which says to me there probably wasn't an initiating explosion. More likely a bit of the skin failed first and the decompression did the rest of the damage.
(NB statement made with no professional expertise, just eyes and a brain)
(NB statement made with no professional expertise, just eyes and a brain)
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PHOAAARRR! That photo from Afterposten is good. You can see how the honeycomb ripped away from its attachments on the body and the wing, especially above the rivet line (on the wing). The fairing detached almost cleanly below that same rivet line. That does leave some puzzling questions.
My kudos to the f/crew for getting QF30 down safely, and to the passengers for keeping calm in what clearly was a serious situation.
S.
My kudos to the f/crew for getting QF30 down safely, and to the passengers for keeping calm in what clearly was a serious situation.
S.
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For f
sake boeing..sort it out!
This has happened too many times over the years!
If this was a 'eastern' a/c the entire fleet would be grounded. I expect the FAA wil find a way to stop the Boeing/US economy taking a hit on this one!
AAAARRRHHH!!
sake boeing..sort it out!This has happened too many times over the years!
If this was a 'eastern' a/c the entire fleet would be grounded. I expect the FAA wil find a way to stop the Boeing/US economy taking a hit on this one!
AAAARRRHHH!!
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I'm curious about the discoloration and apparent distortion of the inner skin around the forward edge of the (departed) fairing. Any suggestions?
Last edited by SVR; 25th Jul 2008 at 12:33. Reason: error
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The longitudinal laopjoint (the one that cause the Aloha incident on a 737) is running right acros the center of the hole. Worth thinking about when looking for the initial failure...
However, congratulations to the crew for a well done emergency procedure.
However, congratulations to the crew for a well done emergency procedure.
Pilots' Pal
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Jewitts,
Surely the failure of the wing/body fairing could not precipitate that apparent damage? I'm only a humble B2 engineer so willing to be corrected.
Surely the failure of the wing/body fairing could not precipitate that apparent damage? I'm only a humble B2 engineer so willing to be corrected.
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small explosion
Could have been an (illegally carried) camping gas cartridge or some sort, that went up in the bag (from underpressure or heat). Looks a bit like an explosion, though not strong enough to have come from a real bomb. Pictures from Lockerbie come back...
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More passenger accounts at the BBC
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Eyewitness: Qantas flight drama
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Eyewitness: Qantas flight drama
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Isn't there a Fire bottle behind the sidewall here?
If so - can't see it or it's mounts?
also - can see a vertical support frame for the sidewall curtain on the fwd stub fuselage frame intact! (directional explosion???? maybe)
Can see screw heads still on fuselage skin where leading edge of fairing attaches, (brown strip on fuse)
Discolouration is corrosion preventative solution.
If so - can't see it or it's mounts?
also - can see a vertical support frame for the sidewall curtain on the fwd stub fuselage frame intact! (directional explosion???? maybe)
Can see screw heads still on fuselage skin where leading edge of fairing attaches, (brown strip on fuse)
Discolouration is corrosion preventative solution.