Qantas 747 lands with gaping hole in fuselage

Qantas pilot Capt. John Francis Bartels makes an announcement inside the Manila airport lounge Friday after the emergency landing about an hour into a flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne, Australia. A report by airport officials quoting Bartels said the plane suffered an “explosive decompression.”  (Edwin Llobrera / Manila International Airport media affairs office via EPA)

Charlie Wilson and Marina Scaffidi, passengers of the Melbourne-bound Qantas Boeing 747 flight, kiss after their plane made an emergency landing at the Manila airport Friday. The 747-400 was cruising at 29,000 feet when a loud bang rattled the plane and the jet descended quickly to 10,000 feet. Applause erupted as the plane touched down safely.  (Joseph Agcaoili AFP/Getty Images)

Oliver Furniss and Marina Scaffidi exchange high fives as after emerging from the Qantas jet that had to make an emergency descent when it suddenly lost cabin pressure due to a hole in the fuselage. “One hour into the flight there was a big bang, then the plane started going down,” Scaffidi told the Associated Press by phone from the Manila airport. “There was wind swirling around the plane and some condensation.”  (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

Passengers from Qantas flight QF 30 prepare to board a bus in Manila after their flight made an emergency landing there. Qantas -- Australia’s largest domestic and international airline -- boasts a strong safety record and has never lost a jet to an accident, although there were crashes of smaller planes, the last in 1951. Since then, there have been no accident-related deaths on any Qantas jets.  (Dennis M. Sabangan / EPA)