If you live in fear of flying on airplanes, then DO NOT read any more of this post!
STOP RIGHT NOW!
Ok, now that I've given fair warning and feel that I've absolved myself of any psychological trauma this post may cause to my readers, we can proceed.
Today I read a news article about a Quantas jet flying from London to Melbourne which developed a gaping hole mid flight. The end result is that the plane was able to land safely in Manila and no one was hurt. It does not even appear that any luggage was lost.
This is quite a scary story to read about, if you have any empathy for the passengers on board the plane. While I love to fly and it does not scare me in the least, there's a statement in the article that even I find scary and a little bit disturbing. Below I have pasted the portion of the article that includes the statement I find disturbing, which I have highlighted. I'm including some of the story before and after the statement to give it context.
Investigators appeared to be focusing on a structural problem."From the pictures that we've seen out of Manila during the course of the day, it would seem that one of the panels to the outer skin of the aircraft has literally come away from the rest of the fuselage," Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane's Aviation, told The Associated Press.
"As a consequence of this, the aircraft experienced rapid decompression," he said.
While it is not uncommon for metal panels to be lost from aircraft in flight, he said: "It's relatively rare that when a bit falls off the airplane it causes the sort of instance that we saw in relation to Qantas. In other words that it causes the aircraft cabin to depressurize."
Yates said investigators will examine closely the fracture points that showed up on the skin of the aircraft to determine whether metal fatigue or manufacturing defect caused the panel to peel away.
Say WHAT?! What do you mean that "it is not uncommon for metal panels to be lost from aircraft in flight"? That's a disturbing and scary statement. Notice how casually he says "when a bit falls off the airplane". Like it's not a big deal! I live near an airport. Does that mean I should be concerned that some big sheet of metal may come crashing down on my house or my family? Maybe all those who are afraid to fly have the right idea, this makes it sound like airplanes are a flying death trap.
Is there some conspiracy to cover this up and Yates accidentally let it slip? After all, I don't often hear of stories where the metal panels from airplanes fall off. You would think that passengers waiting to get on the planes would notice when the plane pulled up to the terminal. I don't know about you, but if the plane I'm supposed to get on pulls up with a metal sheet missing, I'm not getting on it, even if it is not uncommon and usually does not cause a problem. 'Nuf said.
What are your thoughts on this? Am I reading too much into this statement? Did I misread it?
