Review of oxygen tanks on Qantas planes completed

SYDNEY, Australia - An inspection of all oxygen tanks on board Qantas Airways’ fleet of Boeing 747-400s would be completed this week, the airline said, a week after an explosion on board a jumbo jet forced an emergency landing in Manila.

But the company had no comment on the results of the inspection, a spokesman said under the airline’s usual condition of anonymity, citing the ongoing investigation into the incident.

Air safety investigators have focused on an oxygen bottle as the cause of an explosion on board a flight from London to the Australian city of Melbourne last Friday. The blast ripped a car-sized hole in the fuselage and caused rapid decompression in the cabin.

Pilots of the Boeing 747-400, which was carrying 365 people, had to quickly descend thousands of feet (meters) and make an emergency landing in the Philippines.

Despite the damage caused by the blast, the airline said it would preserve its track record of never losing a jet plane in an accident by repairing the hole.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the incident with U.S. and Philippine authorities and is expected to release a preliminary report in a month.      – AP