Qantas mid-air decompression

[Quench]

What would happen to the passengers during the approx. 5 minutes it takes to descend from 29.0000 to 10.000 feet? Seems like a long time to be "cold turkey" at Mount Everest altitude...

Could you descend in 5 minutes over the alps ?

[ultraflight]

Could you descend in 5 minutes over the alps ?

Point taken!

[andrasz]

Could you descend in 5 minutes over the alps ?

Yes. In the Alps you only have a few peaks above 10000 ft., all of them along the main ridge. At any given spot you have several options to descend to 10k without any terrain hazard. Now central Asia or the high Andes is another matter...

[mrdeux]

If anyone is still interested in this, there is an updated report on the ATSB web site. It can be found here:

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2008/AAIR/pdf/AO2008053_Interim.pdf

[Dmmoore]

Thanks for posting the link. We aren't done yet. Changes in the O-2 bottle inspection / life limits are coming.

[safetyfirst]

this video removed

there's a video of the incident from the inside of the plane. Here is the link
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=fu7kiqc9xeo

this video has been removed owing to third party copyright claims

[Highkeas]

ATSB realeased a preliminary factual report stating that "one passenger oxygen cylinder (number-4 from a bank of seven cylinders along the right side of the cargo hold) had sustained a sudden failure and forceful discharge of its pressurised contents into the aircraft hold, rupturing the fuselage in the vicinity of the wing-fuselage leading edge fairing. The cylinder had been propelled upward by the force of the discharge, puncturing the cabin floor and entering the cabin adjacent to the second main cabin door. The cylinder had subsequently impacted the door frame, door handle and overhead panelling, before falling to the cabin floor and exiting the aircraft through the ruptured fuselage.".

See full report here:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/...053_Prelim.pdf

From today's AIAA newsletter:

Report Finds July 2008 Explosion Of Oxygen Bottle Was "Unique Event."

The Wall Street Journal (11/22, subscription required) reports on the final report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau on an investigation into an explosion of an oxygen bottle on a Qantas Boeing 747 in July 2008. The report concluded that such an incident is unlikely to be repeated, but was unable to find the exact cause, given that the bottle fell into the ocean, having blown a whole in the side of the plane. ATSB chief commissioner Martin Dolan said that tests were unable to find a design or manufacturing problem with the oxygen bottle, concluding, "it was clear that this occurrence was a unique event."

Yes - a unique event to date.

[Gabriel]

...given that the bottle fell into the ocean, having blown a whole in the side of the plane.

Luckily it has blown a whole and not a hole...