Shaken but relieved airline passengers were tonight continuing their journeys after surviving a terrifying ordeal in which a gaping hole appeared in their jumbo jet 30,000ft up in the air.
Flooring gave way, part of the ceiling collapsed and debris flew into the first class cabin on the Qantas Boeing 747 which was flying from London to Melbourne.
Scared passengers, some of whom were woken up by a loud bang, had to don oxygen masks as the plane descended after losing cabin pressure on the Hong Kong-Melbourne leg of the flight today.
Film shot by passengers and displayed on websites showed the scenes on board the plane as the captain announced that he was making for Manila in the Philippines for an emergency landing.
Passengers spoke of "part of the ceiling" flying past them, while others told how children were crying. Some aboard vomited after the plane managed to land safely at Manila, with all 346 passengers and 19 crew able to disembark normally.
As air accident investigators probed the cause of the incident, passengers, who spent last night in Manila, were flying on to Melbourne in a replacement Qantas Boeing 747.
Initial investigations suggested that a section of fuselage had separated and that there had been an "explosive decompression".
Pictures of the stricken plane at Manila showed a large hole in the aircraft's fuselage through which luggage could be seen.
Manila airport spokesman Octavio Lina said: "There is a big hole in the belly of the aircraft near the right wing, about three metres in diameter.
"Upon disembarkation, there were some passengers who vomited. You can see in their faces that they were really scared."
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said: "All 346 passengers and 19 crew disembarked normally and there were no reports of any injuries to passengers or crew."
He added that the flight crew performed emergency procedures after oxygen masks were deployed. Initial inspections revealed the aircraft sustained a hole in its fuselage, and it was being inspected by engineers.
Praising the crew, he said: "This was a highly unusual situation and our crew responded with the professionalism that Qantas is known for."
QF30 left Hong Kong at 9am and was due to land in Melbourne at 9:45pm. The flight originated in London.
PA