Air safety investigators said the “sudden and complete release” of a pressurised oxygen bottle caused the explosion that blew a hole in the fuselage of a Qantas jet last month, forcing an emergency landing in the Philippines capital, Manila.

THE Qantas jumbo jet hit by a mid-air explosion lost critical pilot instruments in the blast, it emerged yesterday.

Part of an oxygen cylinder exploded through the floor of the passenger cabin of a Qantas jumbo jet last week, an air safety investigator said today.

Australian investigators were exploring the possibility today that an oxygen cylinder could have exploded mid-flight on the Qantas jumbo jet from London that was forced to plunge 20,000 feet and make an emergency landing in the Philippines.