I see there was an explosive decompression on a QANTAS 747 out of Hong Kong, that had to make an emergency landing at Manila.
http://www.theage.com.au/
What is very interesting is the fact that you can see items of luggage exposed. Why that is interesting is luggage is not just packed in the cargo hold loose. It is packed inside air cargo containers at the terminal, and then loaded as a container into the cargo hold of the jet.
As such, if there was a stuctural fault in the aircraft, and the pressure hull ruptured at the pictured location forward of the wing root, then HOW did the wall of the air cargo luggage container in the hold also rupture as well, right next to the same hole in the fuselage?
There is a disturbing answer. The air cargo container ruptured first, and the overpressure from that decompression damaged and then ruptured the external fuselage of the aircraft adjacent to the cargo container.
Now what would cause an air cargo luggage container to rupture in flight at around 30,000 feet? The answer is not unknown. It has happened before.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_r...bie/235632.stm
The below graphics indicates that the QANTAS event has occured in a similar location on the airframe to that which destroyed flight PA103.
http://aviation-safety.net/photos/di...0&vnr=1&kind=G
What may have saved the QANTAS flight from the same fate as the PA103 Lockerbie flight is the fact that the rupture occured further back on the fuselage, and was contained by the extra structure of the wing / fuselage fairing, which has been lost as a result of the rupture.
The below video is of destructive tests conducted on a 747 and Lockheed Tristar. The forward fuselage tests is of the same amount of SEMTEX explosive that caused the downing of PA103, which was in the order of 250 grams, or a lump easily held in your hand. The test was also conducted under similar pressurised conditions as would have occured in flight.
The QANTAS event may have involved a lesser amount or lower grade of explosive, as SEMTEX is a high order high explosive. Improvised explosives such as ammonium nitrate and gunpowder are of a lower yield. It could have also been an incomplete detonation, or a partial missfire.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arRJi3wHRnA
Where could an explosive device come from?
The plane had made a stop over at Hong Kong, and may have taken on board passangers, and luggage. As I understand it, when the depressurisation occured it was around 20 minutes in to its flight, and would have just finished its climb to 30,000.
In any event, if it was a terrorist attack by bomb, or just a structural failure (which are damn rare on well maintained 747's), the passengers on the QANTAS flight have been damn lucky.