A lot of jokes (and bad pilot tales) start this way, but this is no joke. They are bloody lucky to have maintained control and the flight crew deserves commendations and a beer or three.
I am reminded a lot of what happened in Hawai’i a few years ago, when metal fatigue took out a large chunk of the skin of a plane. Hint, the skin is a key structural component these days, and it was flat out a miracle that the plane did not break apart—and that the pilots were able to land it without it doing same.
I will be looking to see what comes out from this, before saying a whole lot. Right now, what I will say is that I wish I had access to some structural drawings, as something seems to be missing beyond the panel—at least to me, but much depends on the exact model of the 747.
The other thing I will say is that a dive is what has to happen when you have an explosive decompression. Anywhere above 10,000 ASL you need oxygen, so training and the book both say get down as fast as you safely can if it happens. Good schools/instructors and good simulations for continuing training make you practice that… From what I could see on the video, that’s what seems to happen as opposed to what I would call an implied “oh my gosh it caused them to go out of control and go down” Uncontrolled descents rarely keep as level as the video shows…
Corrosion, improper material, bad fasteners, or just missed fatigue cracking—any or all or more could be the cause. Only a good investigation will determine what happened, and how.
Meantime, my hat’s off the the flight crew in particular and the crew in general.
LW
