Originally posted by AJ
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Qantas mid-air decompression
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Don, a QF LAME lives 3 houses away from me, he said this aircraft was known as the "sardine can"...a couple of years ago went for a retrofit at Avalon and the amount of corrosion and water damage they found was astonishing. There were rumours it was not worth doing it up.
This is the 4th 747-400 Qantas has had problems with corrosion or water ingestion with that have made light of the media, apparently there are others which never saw light of day, also in their 767 fleet.
Looking at a close up of the photo, would you say the bottom of the detached fairing had the bonding glue "washed away" over time? I doubt we are looking at an explosion here, there is no explosive damage to the bags in the compartment.
Passengers have manifested the floor immediately above the hole actually buckled and "sank" alarmingly.
The way I see it, the fairing detached, cleanly at the bottom but tore away part of the top skin of the area, andn in the process ripped the attached aluminium skin separating the area from the cargo hold.
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Originally posted by Crunk415ballaIt doesn't look like the "hole" itself is that big.
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Originally posted by AJAVION1, just so you know not one post you have made has been accurate.
If you don't believe me, that is fine. Have a great day and this is my last post to your forum..and my last visit to it.A Former Airdisaster.Com Forum (senior member)....
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Originally posted by WOSRDon, a QF LAME lives 3 houses away from me, he said this aircraft was known as the "sardine can"...a couple of years ago went for a retrofit at Avalon and the amount of corrosion and water damage they found was astonishing. There were rumours it was not worth doing it up.
Corrosion control is always a challenge for all of us. However I have seen corrosion end an aircraft's life but to end a 744's life the corrosion repair bill would need to total >10 million dollars. I have seen corrosion only repairs on a 742F total >1 million. None the less I'll be looking for the official cause of the event.
This is the 4th 747-400 Qantas has had problems with corrosion or water ingestion with that have made light of the media, apparently there are others which never saw light of day, also in their 767 fleet.
Looking at a close up of the photo, would you say the bottom of the detached fairing had the bonding glue "washed away" over time? I doubt we are looking at an explosion here, there is no explosive damage to the bags in the compartment.
I too have doubts about a planned explosion but other things could have contributed to the events cause. Time will tell.
Passengers have manifested the floor immediately above the hole actually buckled and "sank" alarmingly.
The way I see it, the fairing detached, cleanly at the bottom but tore away part of the top skin of the area, andn in the process ripped the attached aluminium skin separating the area from the cargo hold.Last edited by Dmmoore; 2008-07-26, 16:39.Don
Standard practice for managers around the world:
Ready - Fire - Aim! DAMN! Missed again!
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How about this idea for a chain of events:
Something from inside the cargo compartment caused damage to the aircraft skin from the inside, such as a cargo pallet that shifted. Could have been on this flight or could have been damage from an earlier event. Any damage would not have been visible from the outside as this area of the airplane skin is covered by the fairing.
If the damage was enough to cause a split in the aluminum skin, then theoretically Boeing's flap should have opened and limited the damage to one small square. Even if it was limited to one square, there would most likely be enough outrushing air from the decompression to have blown off the outer fairing.
Why was there more than one square of damage? Maybe some cargo item blocked the outrushing air and created a pressure spike (like has been considered for the Aloha 243 convertible accident).
Maybe corrosion also played a part in either making the damage site larger, or creating a weak structure that failed possibly with little or no damage from the cargo.
Interesting event.
potholeYou just can't avoid the potholes.
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Originally posted by potholeHow about this idea for a chain of events:
Something from inside the cargo compartment caused damage to the aircraft skin from the inside, such as a cargo pallet that shifted. Could have been on this flight or could have been damage from an earlier event. Any damage would not have been visible from the outside as this area of the airplane skin is covered by the fairing.
If the damage was enough to cause a split in the aluminum skin, then theoretically Boeing's flap should have opened and limited the damage to one small square. Even if it was limited to one square, there would most likely be enough outrushing air from the decompression to have blown off the outer fairing.
Why was there more than one square of damage? Maybe some cargo item blocked the outrushing air and created a pressure spike (like has been considered for the Aloha 243 convertible accident).
Maybe corrosion also played a part in either making the damage site larger, or creating a weak structure that failed possibly with little or no damage from the cargo.
Interesting event.
potholeDon
Standard practice for managers around the world:
Ready - Fire - Aim! DAMN! Missed again!
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Robin Guess Aviation Historian, Photographer, Web Designer.
http://www.Jet-Fighters.Net
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Standard 115 cu/ft composite O2 bottle comes with:
-Direct reading pressure gauge
-Manual shutoff valve
-Frangible disk set to blow off excess bottle pressure at 2500-2700 psi.
Nominal oxygen bottle pressure is 1850 psi for a fresh tank. If given the chance, the frangible disk should have relieved excess bottle pressure to prevent such an explosion if this is truly what had happened. It will be interesting to hear about the dynamic for this event. Rare!
I am not sure if this 744 had reached its max normal cabin delta P given the altitude the event occurred at, but with this sudden rush of pressure from an O2 bottle, it may have momentarily opened the cabin overpressure relief valves. Any pictures of the overpressure relief valve flappers to see weather they are still ajar? That might be a good tell-tale.
With all that O2 flooding the compartment, it might be just as well it punched a hole in the fuselage to get it all out, nothing like an oxygen fire to make your day.
In my humble opinion.
N1
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