Qantas jet flies in with 'a bit missing'

A passenger, who has worked in the aviation industry and did not want to be named, said a fibreglass cover on the wing was missing on flight QF592 on Tuesday night.

"It scared the hell out of me. It gave me sweaty palms," he said.

"I was seriously thinking about getting my wife and kid and getting off the plane.

"You just don't take risks."

The man said the cover, a 2m-long piece, called a cowling, reduced wind resistance and protected the engine. He said he asked two flight attendants what was going on. One told him it had been like that for a week.

Ahh, the perils of asking expert opinion from passengers. Here is Barry Beercooler of Beecroft, hurtling through the skies 5 miles up, crammed inside an aluminium can, at a high percentage of the speed of sound, and he's worried about a bit of plastic on the engine, the aeronautical equivalent of a weathershield?