Travel News

Qantas jet lands with gaping hole in fuselage

AP - Sat Jul 26, 1:29 PM ET

MANILA, Philippines - The 346 passengers were cruising at 29,000 feet Friday when an explosive bang shook the Qantas jumbo jet. The plane descended rapidly. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as debris flew through the cabin from a hole that had suddenly appeared in the floor.

AP Travel News

  • Passengers Scott Robinson, left, David Saunders, center, and an unidentified woman react after oxygen masks fell during their Qantas flight 30 on Friday July 25, 2008, after it was shaken by what passengers described as an explosion. Australian investigators began examining the stricken Qantas jumbo jet Saturday, July 26, 2008, after it made a harrowing emergency landing in the Philippines with a giant hole in its fuselage. The Boeing 747-400 was cruising at 29,000 feet (8,800 meters) on Friday with 346 passengers aboard when it was shaken by what passengers described as an explosion. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as the plane descended rapidly and debris flew through the cabin from a hole that suddenly appeared in the floor.   (AP Photo/David Saunders)
    Qantas jet lands with gaping hole in fuselage AP - Sat Jul 26, 1:29 PM ET

    MANILA, Philippines - The 346 passengers were cruising at 29,000 feet Friday when an explosive bang shook the Qantas jumbo jet. The plane descended rapidly. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as debris flew through the cabin from a hole that had suddenly appeared in the floor.

  • Italy gov't mad over Ryanair obscene gesture ad AP - Sat Jul 26, 1:20 PM ET

    ROME - Low-cost airline Ryanair has flown into a new publicity storm by using a photo of a controversial and outspoken Italian politician to promote its flights.

  • An undated handout picture from Vienna's popular Volksoper opera house shows actress Sandra Pires in the role of Maria von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Salzburg is alive with the sound of music once again, as the von Trapp family's villa opened its doors to the public this weekend for the first time, as a hotel and museum.(AFP/HO/File/Dimo Dimov)
    'Sound of Music' daughter returns to Austria AP - Fri Jul 25, 6:07 PM ET

    VIENNA, Austria - Seventy years after fleeing the Nazis, a woman whose family was immortalized in "The Sound of Music" has returned to Austria to visit her former home.

AP Travel Features

  • Hojin Kimmel is seen during breakfast at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, N.Y., Thursday, March 20, 2008. Dozens of religious retreats are nestled in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, many open to visitors seeking quiet getaways and personal enlightenment. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
    Religious retreats: Head to the Catskills AP - Thu Jul 24, 4:29 PM ET

    NEW LEBANON, N.Y. - At the former Shaker village, where the Taconic Mountains roll into the Berkshires and New York touches Massachusetts, Yaqin Aubert read aloud Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Judaic, Christian and Islamic texts during the Sunday service at the Sufi religious retreat.

  • Designers Ryan Brouwer and Randy Pease pose in front of the building they designed for Integrated Architecture in Michigan at Grand Haven State Park on Monday, June 23, 2008. The new 'green' environmentally friendly toilet-shower building  is the first of its kind in the state park system. (AP Photo/Adam Bird)
    Campground restrooms becoming ecologically correct AP - Thu Jul 24, 3:57 PM ET

    GRAND HAVEN, Mich. - When nature calls, campers at Michigan's Grand Haven State Park can now go "green" at a new, environmentally friendly toilet-shower building that is the first of its kind in the state park system.

  • Traditional drummers and dancers perform during the annual Kandy festival in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007. A centuries-old celebration of Sri Lankan Buddhism, the annual festival is a parade of whirling dancers, elaborately costumed elephants, stilt walkers and fire throwers. (AP Photo/Chamila Karunaratna)
    Buddhist festival: Sri Lankan answer to Mardi Gras AP - Tue Jul 22, 2:15 PM ET

    KANDY, Sri Lanka - A cannon booms and the crack of a dozen whips pierce the warm night. The colorful, pulsating Esala Perahera procession has begun.

AP Travel Columns

Aviation.com

  • Personal Jets: Private Aviation on a Budget Aviation.com - Fri Jul 25, 4:15 PM ET

    They're fast, they're dinky, and soon they'll be coming to an airport near you. They are called personal jets.

  • Relaxing at the Airport When You're Delayed Aviation.com - Thu Jul 24, 12:45 PM ET

    It's high summer, so congested runways, stormy skies and scheduling snafus are once again grounding millions of air travelers at home and abroad.

  • Boeing 767 Flies with Blended Winglets Aviation.com - Tue Jul 22, 6:30 PM ET

    The blended winglets that have become a common feature on Boeing 737s and 757s have made their first flight on a Boeing 767.