Mid-air terror for British passengers as plane plunges 20,000ft after 'hole in its belly' causes drop in cabin pressure

The packed aircraft, which was carrying 346 passengers and 19 crew from London to Melbourne, was said to have plunged a terrifying 20,000 feet and lost cabin pressure shortly after leaving Hong Kong bound for Melbourne.

The aircraft touched down safely at Manila at 11.15am local time and all passengers and crew were able to disembark safely. "Upon disembarkation, there were some passengers who vomited," Manila airport operations officer Ding Lima told local radio. "You can see in their faces that they were really scared."

Mid-air emergency: The Qantas Boeing 747 made an emergency landing in Manila after a 'hole in its belly' caused it to lose cabin pressure

Baggage can clearly been seen dangling from the three-metre gash in the 747's side

Passenger Dr June Kane, from Melbourne, said: "There was a terrific boom and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down.

"On the left-hand side, just forward of the wing, there's a gaping hole from the wing to the underbody. It's about two metres by four metres and there's baggage hanging out, so you assume that there's a few bags that may have gone missing.

"It was absolutely terrifying, but I have to say everyone was very calm."

Peter Gibson, from Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, told ABC Radio that initial reports indicated a problem with air pressure in the cabin.

He said: "The pilot has some pressurisation warnings about a door on the left-hand side of the aircraft, but exactly what went wrong is still being determined."

Brendan McClements, chief executive of the Victorian Major Events Company, said: "We were flying out of Hong Kong, heard a very loud noise, a bang.

"There was a sort of rapid expulsion of wind. It went out of the plane, the air got sucked out, the oxygen masks dropped down and we put them on.

"Where I was sitting wasn't ideal, by no means ideal. But actually it was very well handled by the Qantas staff - that is the thing that stood out to me. They did a very good job of keeping everyone calm, keeping it under control.

Oliver Furniss, left, and Marina Scaffidi exchange high fives while another passenger takes a reassuring drag on a cigarette after disembarking safely from the aircraft

Charlie Wilson (L), and Marina Scaffidi kiss in relief as they disembark from the terrifying flight

"After we landed, there was a very large hole that wasn't there when we took off in Hong Kong."

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.

The gash can clearly be seen in the side of the massive Boeing 747

Mr Dixon said: "The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority have been notified of the incident and Qantas is sending its own engineers to Manila.

"Qantas has provided all passengers with accommodation and a replacement aircraft has been arranged."

One passenger said that the pilot did 'an amazing job' of controlling the aircraft.

Flight QF30, which left Hong Kong at 9:00am (01:00GMT), had been due to arrive in Melbourne at 9:45pm (11:45GMT), according to the Qantas website.