Luggage blast could have holed Quantas jet

An explosion in the luggage hold or a broken panel could have caused the near-tragedy on the Qantas jumbo jet which was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday. The plane, en route from London to Melbourne, landed in Manila after the fuselage ruptured shortly after taking off from Hong Kong on Friday. A source close to the investigation said that the explosion might have been caused by a pressurised container inside a piece of luggage. Oxygen cylinders and fire extinguishers will also be examined. A terrorist incident is unlikely to be the cause. Claims that 'a lot of corrosion' had been noticed on the 17-year-old plane during a service this year were played down yesterday by Qantas. The airline's CEO Geoff Dixon said: 'I would have thought that there is corrosion in every aircraft in every airline at some stage and... [read full story]