Hello everyone. Yes, I know. This week has not been one of my more active ones here in PlaneBuzz. Things will be more normal next week.

Yours truly has been scouring the countryside the last week or so — looking for potential new Worldwide Headquarters’ locations.

Unfortunately it is also the heaviest week of the quarter for airline earnings reports, so today I am so buried in numbers I can’t add two plus two, as I try to catch up and start working on this week’s issue of PlaneBusiness Banter. I definitely think we are looking at another one of those 55-plus page issues this week.

But you know, when numbers overwhelm you, there are always photographs to cut through the clutter.

And here’s the photograph of the day that will cut through any end-of-week earnings clutter that may be hanging around in your mind.

This is a good shot of the Qantas 747-400 that decompressed at 29,000 feet. Or rather, a good shot of the section of fuselage that flew off the aircraft at 29,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole that extended into the cargo hold of the aircraft.

According to the ATSB:

“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. The crew descended the aircraft to 10,000 ft in accordance with established procedures and diverted the aircraft to Manila where a safe landing was carried out. The aircraft taxied to the terminal unassisted, where the passengers and crew disembarked. There were no reported injuries.”

It adds: “Initial information indicates that a section of the fuselage has separated in the area of the forward cargo compartment.”

A spokeswoman for the Manila International Airport Authority says the aircraft is registered as VH-OJK. According to Flight’s ACAS database it has a serial number of 25067 and was delivered new to Qantas by Boeing in 1991. It is powered by Rolls-Royce RB211-524G engines.”

Technorati Tags: decompression, Qantas