Great photo of the INTERIOR of the 747 cabin after it landed, and GRAPHIC and VERY scary details on what happened inside to the terrified passsengers:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0104/26/p.../pageone2.html


Qantas spent $100 million repairing this old 747-400 - WAY above its current full sale value. WHY?? So they could continue to claim in advertising they had never lost a jet aircraft in a crash.

The transcript above indicates it has been deemed by authorities it was misjudgment by the pilot to insist all pax and crew stay on board for 15 mins after the crash, with fuel leaking from the badly damaged plane, rather than order immediate evacuation. Pilot was one of Qantas most senior, and THAT is the worry to me. He made a chain of possibly fatal decisions, not just one.

Tonights TV news has another incident where 2 x engine cover panels from a 747 400 had fallen off when taking off and not discovered until plane touched down 14 hours later in LAX.

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Bedlam, darkness - and then came the smoke

Descent into hell ... the damaged interior of QF1 (photo on link above)

The full terror on board the Qantas 747 that skidded off a Bangkok runway can only now be revealed. Darren Goodsir and Joseph Kerr report.

"Welcome to Bangkok," the Qantas customer service manager announced to the 391 passengers. Suddenly, the routine courtesy greeting stopped mid-sentence, beginning 25 minutes of terror on flight QF1.

The rear wheels of the Boeing 747-438 had just splashed down on the runway at Don Muang airport, its surface slicked with three millimetres of water from a sudden thunderstorm.

Almost instantly, the plane began to rattle and shake violently. It started skidding and fishtailing out of control. Unexplained noises and vibrations filled the cabin.

Then several crew members started shouting.

"Heads down! Stay down! Brace, brace, brace!" attendants yelled as the aircraft aquaplaned down the track.

These dramatic events of the night of September 23, 1999 are revealed for the first time in the report of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, obtained by the Herald on Tuesday and released yesterday.

The gripping account of the perilous landing, touchdown and skid along the runway places the reader almost inside the stricken cabin of the jumbo.

The report divides the action, and inaction, into split-seconds; with the accounts all verified by voice recordings and interviews with passengers and staff. In the 35 terrifying seconds between QF1's touchdown at 10.47 and the aircraft ending up in a bog 220 metres past the end of the 3.7-kilometre runway, bedlam took hold.

Overhead lockers flew open, their contents spewing onto the floor. Pieces of roofing were wrenched from their fixtures. Magazines were sucked from their racks. Handbags, pillows and blankets were flung into the corridors. Galley doors opened and banged shut continuously, with ice, water and food scraps littering the floor. Seat panels and trim were ripped; lifejackets spilled out; wires and leads were exposed to view.

On the flight deck, three emergency escape reels unfurled from the overhead stowage - hitting the second officer on the shoulder; his attention was fixed on getting out of the mess.

As bad as things were, it was when the aircraft finally stopped, listing awkwardly to the right, that the passengers' panic really set in.

A burning smell overwhelmed the front part of the cabin, now darkened because of lighting failures. The passengers were not to know it was caused by leaking hydraulic fuel and oil.

much more .............

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~ Glen ~