BY JAY CHUA

A QANTAS B747 plane bound for Melbourne made an emergency landing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Friday morning after sustaining in mid-air a big hole on its right belly, just near the wing.

Flight QF 30, which came from London via Hong Kong, reported "pressurization trouble" while at an altitude of 29,000 feet over the South China Sea.

It touched down at 11:12 a.m. at the NAIA Terminal 1 and was quickly trailed by fire trucks and ambulances from the airport rescue and emergency unit. It remained at the end of runway 24 for 30 minutes until it was towed.

The 343 passengers and about a dozen crewmembers were taken off safely.

When the plane finally berthed at parking Bay number 4, airport authorities found a large hole on its right side, measuring about 10 square feet. The plane's outer shell was blown off near the intersection of the wing and body.

A large piece of what appeared to be canvas and a red piece of insulation material stuck out of the fuselage as if an explosion from the inside had pushed the materials out.

However, authorities did not see any burn marks that would indicate that the blown off area was caused by explosives.

An aircraft mechanic, after viewing the damage, said luckily, all the control wires, hydraulic or pneumatic tubing were located on the left side of the plane. Otherwise, he said the flight controls could have been affected and the pilot would have had a hard time controlling the plane.

The plane was towed to the Lufthansa Teknik hangar where it would undergo forensic examination to determine the cause of the blast.

The passengers were brought to a hotel after waiting for about an hour at the pre-departure area, where they were briefed by the pilot on what happened. They were told that some of them would be transferred to another airline or that another Qantas plane would take them all to Melbourne.

Capt. John Francis Bartels gave no explanation on the cause of the damage.

Tamara Reinisch, who was returning to Melbourne after a visit to London, said it was a "terrible" experience.

"I heard a big bang, people were crying, babies were screaming and many were grappling how to put on the oxygen mask," she said.

She said she was stunned for a moment, realizing that "we were at 30 thousand feet and I wonder how we would be able to get down."

Sam White and friend, Tom Hood, both in their early '20s said: "There was a big bump, like a gush of wind and we felt the pressure dropped."

"It's surreal, it was like a dream," White said.