Investigations have begun into an incident today involving a Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400 that was forced to make an emergency descent and diversion to Manila after a large section of its fuselage separated, resulting in a rapid decompression.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says it is dispatching a team of four investigators to the Philippine capital to assist local authorities with the probe into what it describes as “a serious incident”

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Qantas says the aircraft suffered “a hole in its fuselage”. Pictures released by the Manila International Airport Authority show a large gash several metres long on the right side of the aircraft just forward of the wing exposing part of the cargo hold.

The ATSB says: “At approximately 29,000ft (8,839m), the crew were forced to conduct an emergency descent after a section of the fuselage separated and resulted in a rapid decompression of the cabin.