A Medway woman was on board a Qantas flight forced to make an emergency landing this morning after a large hole appeared in its fuselage.

Sarah Cashford, from Wigmore, was said to be among the 346 passengers on a long haul Boeing 747-400 flight diverted to the Philippines after cabin pressure suddenly fell shortly after leaving Hong Kong.

In a radio interview, she said:"There was just a huge bang and the oxygen masks just fell, then we did too really.

"The plane just kept dropping, there was a huge rush of wind through the cabin and we didn't know what happened."

The Melbourne-bound aircraft had started its journey in London. The pilot was able to land the aircraft safely but a three-metre hole was found in the cargo section of the plane. An investigation has been launched.