Qantas plane plummets from the sky!

Talk about sensational journalism. I've just read a headline similar to the title of this blog post which talks about a plane "plunging 20,000 feet in terror" after a 10ft hole appeared in the side.

Now I'm not discounting any of the reports that have appeared in the press. I also know and understand that a hole that size in the side of a pressurised plane at altitude is not normal and needs to be dealt with. But I do believe that sensationalist reporting like that needs to be controlled.

Here's what we know as facts.

A Qantas 747 from London to Melbourne had taken off from Hong Kong an hour earlier and a hole appeared in the side of the plane. We don't know why. It caused a depressurisation which would have resulted in 2 things:

1) The oxygen masks would have appeared
2) The pilots would have executed an emergency descent to an altitude where the air was more breathable.

The aircraft touched down safely at Manila at 11.15am local time and all 346 passengers and 19 crew disembarked normally.

Anything other than that is pure speculation. A 20,000ft terror plunge is pure speculation and hyperbole

From the sounds of things there were no injuries, no damage to anyone and only a few passengers suffering from vomiting.

I'll keep an eye on this story for you. I'm interested to know what caused the damage ahead of the starboard wing which apparently penetrated the cabin.

The BBC appears to have the most well balanced view of the story at the moment