Passengers on a packed jumbo jet flight from London today described their terror after a gaping hole was punched in the plane as it headed for Australia.

Some passengers vomited when oxygen masks had to be used as the Melbourne-bound Qantas Boeing 747 plunged 20,000ft and debris flew around the first-class cabin.

There was a loud bang as the flooring gave way and part of the ceiling collapsed as the pilots fought to control the jet and make an emergency landing in the Philippines. The plane touched down safely at Manila airport at 11.15am local time. All 346 passengers and 19 crew disembarked normally.

Britons on Qantas flight QF30 said they feared the plane would crash as the plane rapidly lost altitude, dropping from 30,000 feet to 10,000 feet.

Owen Tudor said: "There was an almighty crack and you could hear something happening. Then the oxygen masks fell down and you started dropping down, ears popping."

Another Briton, Phil Rescall, 40, who was travelling to Australia for work, said passengers did not realise how close they had come to disaster until they got off. "You see the hole and you realise we were very lucky," he said. "Some people were crying, some people were pretty shaken when they saw the hole."

Robin McGeechan said it was terrifying when the oxygen masks fell down. "We were told a door had popped," he said. "We only realised that there was a great big hole in the plane after we landed."

An initial investigation indicated there was an "explosive decompression" with no more details. Manila airport operations officer Ding Lima said the plane lost cabin pressure shortly after take-off on the Hong Kong to Melbourne leg of its journey and the pilot radioed for an emergency landing.

He said: "There is a big hole in the belly of the aircraft near the right wing, about three metres in diameter. Upon disembarkation, there were some passengers who vomited. You can see in their faces that they were really scared."

Dr June Kane, from Melbourne, said: "There was a terrific boom and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class). There's a gaping hole from the wing to the underbody. There's baggage hanging out, so you assume that there's a few bags that may have gone missing.

"It was absolutely terrifying, but everyone was very calm."

The Boeing 747 flown by Captain John Francis Bertels left Heathrow yesterday, and took off from Hong Kong at 9am local time today. It had been due to land in Melbourne shortly before midday.

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority were notified. Qantas was sending its own engineers to Manila.

Peter Gibson, of the CASA, told ABC Radio that initial reports indicated a problem with cabin air pressure. He said: "The pilot had some pressurisation warnings about a door on the lefthand side, but exactly what went wrong is still being determined."

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