Media contact:
Dan O’Malley during business hours & after hours duty officer: 1800 020 616
62 Northbourne Ave, Canberra ACT 2601
PO Box 967, Civic Square ACT 2608 Australia
Telephone: 02 6274 6595
Facsimile: 02 6247 3117
24 hours: 1800 020 616
ABN 65 061 156 887
Media Release
2009/15
Oxygen bottle failure and depressurisation accident still under rigorous scrutiny
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is continuing its rigorous and comprehensive
examination of the circumstances surrounding the failure of an oxygen cylinder that led to the
depressurisation of a Boeing 747 on a flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne in July last year.
The ATSB’s second interim factual report on this accident, released today, indicates that to date
there is no evidence of systemic safety problems with oxygen bottles of the type involved in the
accident. Various tests have not been able to replicate the cylinder failure that initiated the
accident.
The report provides details of the wide-ranging and ongoing technical examination of five
oxygen cylinders obtained by the ATSB from the same manufacturing lot as the failed cylinder.
The original cylinder was lost in the South China Sea in the course of the accident.
Analysis of the factual information and findings as to the factors that contributed to the accident
remain the subject of ongoing work. Details will be included in the final report of the
investigation.
To date, all pressure tests of the cylinders met or exceeded the relevant safety specifications,
with recorded rupture pressures being over twice the maximum working pressure of the
cylinders.
Other work is being carried out to determine the minimum size of mechanical flaws that could
result in cylinder failure in service. The ongoing ATSB investigation will supplement that work
with a program of rupture tests on cylinders that have had various sized ‘artificial’ flaws
machined into the shell.
The ATSB expects to conclude the data gathering and analysis aspects of the investigation in
early 2010, with a final report to follow.
Media Contact: 1800 020 616
17 November 2009
NEWS 
