An Irishman has described what happened onboard a flight from London to Australia during which a hole appeared in the plane's fuselage.
The Quantas jet had to make an emergency landing in the Philippines on Friday morning.
George Kierans from Drogheda said the 346 passengers were having dinner when they realised something was wrong
"There was a loud explosion in the cabin and the plane suddenly plummeted from the sky," he said.
"Obviously, the oxygen masks and everything fell down. Nobody had any idea what was going on.
"There actually wasn't any great panic on the plane because I think most people were in a state of shock."
Qantas Airways said its Boeing 747-400 diverted to the Filipino capital Manila, where it landed safely.
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said engineers were investigating what might have caused the hole - about 2.5m to 3m in diameter - in the fuselage.
He said Qantas had provided all passengers with accommodation and a replacement aircraft had been arranged.
The airline boasts of never having lost a jet, but has seen some of its aircraft involved in minor accidents in recent years.
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