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July 25, 2008 01:52pm

A QANTAS flight has just made an emergency landing in Manila following reports that a door 'popped' mid-flight between London and Melbourne.

... passengers ... say oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling when the door 'popped' in flight.

... the plan suddenly plunged from 30,000 feet to 10,000 feet.

Flight QF 30 was due to arrive in Melbourne around 10pm tonight.

It was one hour from Hong Kong when the incident occured.

The plane is currently on the tarmac at Manila airport with all passengers - the majority of them Australians - on board.

Technical Glitch Scares Passengers


Australian passengers told of their horrific terror aboard a Melbourne bound Qantas flight which was advised it was in the best interests of the plane to return to Hong Kong yesterday due to explosive decompression.

Some passengers were terrified that the 309 passengers were told few details of the catastrophe.

They said the plane 'Dropped out of the sky like a mouse chasing a piece of cheese' before turning around.

As a precaution, fire trucks were on standby when the Boeing 747 landed.

Passenger we can't show you his name, but he is a very scared man last night was still recovering from the ordeal.

'I'll never fly this airline again', the passenger said.

Melbourne passenger Sarah Lucas (said) she was shocked to see a gash of between 1.8 and 2.4 metres where the wing intersects plane's fusellage.

Speaking from the Manila airport, passenger Dr June Kane says she heard a loud bang from underneath the plane, and saw debris fly through the cabin.

"I'm looking at the plane now and on the left hand side, just forward of the wing, there's a gaping hole from the wing to the underbody," she said.

"It's about two metres by four metres and there's baggage hanging out so you assume that there's a few bags that may have gone missing."

Dr Kane says she heard the bang while the plane was flying over the South China Sea.

"There was a terrific boom and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down," she said.

"We were told that one of the rear doors, a hole had blown into it, but I've since looked at the plane and there's a gigantic gaping hole in the plane.

"It was absolutely terrifying but I have to say everyone was very calm."

He said initial inspections revealed the aircraft had sustained a hole in its fuselage, and it was currently being inspected by engineers.