Chink Airlines Suck Too: Jet Explodes Upon Landing in Okinawa

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293765,00.html

China Airlines Jet Explodes Upon Landing in Okinawa

Monday, August 20, 2007

NAHA, Japan - A China Airlines jet exploded into flames at an airport in

Okinawa after arriving from Taiwan on Monday, but all 165 people aboard

escaped alive, officials said. Police said terrorism was not suspected.

All 157 passengers - including two small children- fled the Boeing 737-800

unhurt on inflated emergency slides just minutes before the plane burst into

a fireball, Transport Ministry official Akihiko Tamura told reporters.

The aircraft skidded on the tarmac on its way from the runway to the gate

after landing, starting a fire that prompted the emergency evacuation,

according to China Airlines spokesman Sun Hung-wen. The eight-member crew

also safely left the plane, Sun said.

"The fire started when the left engine exploded a minute after the aircraft

entered the parking spot," Tamura said, adding that airport traffic

controllers had received no report from the pilot indicating anything was

wrong.

National broadcaster NHK showed footage of the plane bursting into flames

just seconds after what it said was the last crew member escaping from a

rear door. The plane's pilot was also visible jumping out of the cockpit

window as the plane exploded.

"After the plane landed, there were flames, and I heard explosions a few

times, then saw black smoke," airport worker Hideaki Oyadomari told NHK. "We

felt the hot air coming our way."

Nobody was injured. Local fire official Hiroki Shimabukuro said two

passengers - a 7-year-old girl and a man in his 50s - had been hospitalized

because they felt unwell, but not because they were injured. A ground

engineer was knocked off his feet by the force of the blast, but was not

hurt, the ministry said.

Tamura put the number of passengers at 157, updating the figure of 155

initially provided by China Airlines.

The fire was put out about an hour later, leaving the aircraft charred and

mangled.

Several passengers interviewed by NHK said they were suddenly told to use

the emergency slides to evacuate as they were preparing to get off the plane

after what seemed like an ordinary landing.

Some said they saw smoke and flames entering the cabin and that there was a

stampede to exit the plane. Many said they heard explosions minutes after

they exited the aircraft.

"I suddenly saw flames beside me, and everybody started rushing to get out,"

a male passenger told public broadcaster NHK. "People were pushing and

shoving in panic," he said.

"I felt the boom of the explosion behind me as soon as I got off," a female

passenger said.

The cause of the fire, which reportedly began in one of the engines, was

unknown. Japan's National Police Agency said terrorism was not suspected.

"The plane landed safely so we are still checking why there was a fire,"

said Sun.

Four officials from the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation

Commission arrived at Naha airport on Monday afternoon to investigate the

incident.

Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration head Chang Kuo-cheng said

authorities ordered China Airlines and its subsidiary Mandarin Airlines to

ground their 13 other Boeing 737-800s pending a thorough inspection.

Japanese aviation authorities also ordered an emergency inspection of all

Boeing 737-800 planes owned by Japanese air lines, as well as some 737-700

models that carry a similar engine.

"If there was a fire, it might have something to do with an oil leak," Chang

said, noting that the exact cause was not determined.

The Okinawa fire is a setback to China Airlines, which in recent years

appeared to have improved on a troubled safety record among international

carriers.

A China Airlines 747 crashed in 2002 as it flew from Taipei to Hong Kong,

leading to 225 deaths