Sydney - Passengers on a Qantas jumbo jet that was forced to
land in Manila said Sunday that lives were put at risk because oxygen
masks failed to deploy or turned out to be faulty.
'The elastic was so old that it had deteriorated,' David Saunders
told The Age newspaper. 'I was trying to get my passport, and every
time I got my passport the mask fell off and I started to pass out.'
Saunders was aboard QF30 from Hong Kong to Melbourne when the 17-
year-old Boeing 747-438 blew a hole in its side on Friday and
plummeted towards the South China Sea 9,000 metres below.
'A guy just went into a panic and smashed the whole panel off the
ceiling to get to the mask,' Saunders said. 'The kids were screaming
and flailing. Their cheeks and lips were turning blue from lack of
oxygen.'
Another of the 346 passengers, Paula Madejon, said she had to
share her mask with two others and that in the row behind her no one
had a mask.
The paper reported that a source close to the Civil Aviation
Safety Authority said oxygen cylinders bursting was the likely cause
of the blast that punctured the fuselage. The cylinders were stored
in the exact location of the explosion and there were no signs of a
fire.
A report from the Manila International Airport Authority said an
initial investigation revealed there had been an 'explosive
decompression' but did not speculate on the cause.
Since its establishment in 1920, Australia's national carrier has
never lost a jet to an accident. Claims that oxygen masks
malfunctioned - some because the elastic had weathered with age - are
an embarrassment to the airline.
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said reports that rust caused
the fuselage to break away should be discounted. He said the plane
had undergone checks in 2004, 2006 and earlier this year, all in
Australia.
Passenger Beverley Doors confirmed to Australia's ABC Radio that
not all passengers had oxygen masks.
'When the oxygen came down, some didn't come down,' she said.
'Ours didn't come down, and my husband just about went out to it
because he didn't have any oxygen for about three minutes.'
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