The terrifying 45 minutes Onboard Qantas

MANILA, Philippines—From a stopover in Hong Kong, Qantas Airways flight QF-30 is roughly an hour into its mid-morning flight to Melbourne and the cabin crew is starting breakfast service to some 346 passengers on Friday morning.

Then, as the plane cruises at 29,000 feet, there is a sudden loud noise.

Here is a brief chronology of the dramatic mid-air mishap:

10:30 a.m. An unexplained bang leaves a gaping hole on the jumbo jet’s right side, depressurizing the cabin mid-flight. Then a roughly 10-minute rollercoaster ride follows for the 365 passengers and crew onboard the Melbourne-bound plane.

10:40 a.m. While strapped to a seat 10 rows away from where debris gusts through, passenger Marina Scaffidi feels the plane re-stabilizing. The pilot announces there has been depressurization and that the flight is seeking shelter in Manila. (more…)

2 comments July 26, 2008

Why Dolphy broke up with Alma

Now, it is being told the way it happened — that is, why Dolphy broke up with Alma Moreno, mother of his son Vandolf. I know that back then, in 1988 when it happened, all kinds of versions came out, by and from different sources, but Dolphy kept mum. Until now.

In the book Hindi Ko Ito Narating Ng Mag-Isa as told to Bibeth Orteza, launched Wednesday night at The Fort, Dolphy is finally telling all. It’s a pity that Alma, whom close friends call Ness (from Venesa), was the only woman in Dolphy’s life who refused to be interviewed for the book, saying in a TV interview that she didn’t want “to tell a lie” (whatever she meant). She could have balanced things by telling her own story.

Anyway, I am printing the portion where Dolphy talks about his romance with Alma. (Thanks to Eric Quizon, Dolphy’s son who published the book as a tribute to his dad’s 80th birthday yesterday, July 25, for giving me the go-signal). (more…)

2 comments July 26, 2008