QANTAS 747-300 Damaged

a 747-300, rego VH-EBX, was seriously damaged in MEL whilst being loaded by cargo handlers. Subsequently the aircraft is currently being looked at and evaluated whether to fix and put back into service or to scrap.

Currently a 2-class 747-400 will be operating the MEL-PER shuttles. I believe there is a very large tear down the length of the fuselage and a cargo door was ripped off. Lets hope they scrap that beast, the less we have of those nightmare aircraft the better. Surely this will class as QANTAS' first ever total hull loss?

Judging by the pics, the cargo door is intact and the gash is maybe 6 feet long at the absolute most....it will be difficult to repair due to it being length wise and past a construction joint and through to wing fairing

Looks Like Qantas 747-300 VH-EBX sustained some severe damage from an runaway cargo/baggage container yesterday. Skin damage is one thing but, apparently the damge extends into the airframe ribs. Not an easy repair.

The rumor is that QF management are doing the sums to determine whether this aircraft is to be turned into coke cans? Or will they spend the money to summon the Boeing AOG team to come out and effect a repair?

In days gone by, Qantas may have managed this in house but, after Sydney Heavy Maint. was Lean-Sigma'd, any spare expertise is now working else where. Word on the tarmac is that the brakes failed on the loader so the operator, a porter, leap from the machine in fear of being crushed against the aircraft.

By the look of the pics he made the right decision. If the same sort of "incident" happens to one of the new carbon fibre aircraft how long would it take to fix?