Qantas blast described
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CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA — An air safety investigator today said it appears that shrapnel from an oxygen cylinder explosion aboard a packed Qantas jetliner pierced the floor of the passenger cabin and sheared off part of a door handle.
The blast Friday on a flight from London to Melbourne blew a large hole in the Boeing 747-400, causing an emergency landing in the Philippines.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau official Julian Walsh said the shrapnel knocked the handle out of position.
But he said that “there was never any danger of the door opening” because it is designed never to be opened in the air.
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