A hole the side of a sedan was ripped from a cargo area under the business class area of the cabin, officials said. The plane, a 747-400 operating as Qantas Flight 30 from Melbourne to Hong Kong, landed safely, and no one was hurt.
"The hole appeared to encompass a part of the plane called a fairing, which is meant to smooth out the surface of the fuselage and reduce drag. Fairings, which are installed on various parts of an aircraft, do not normally suffer metal fatigue, said Robert Mann Jr., an industry consultant based in Port Washington, N.Y.
That raised the question of whether the aircraft might have been damaged on the ground or from inside the cargo compartment, possibly when bags were being loaded, Mr. Mann said."
