Crew and Passengers Safe as Jet Flares in Japan

World | August 20, 2007, Monday // 00:00
Crew and Passengers Safe as Jet Flares in Japan The billowing flames and smoke could be seen from afar, their cause suspected to have been a problem with the left engine of the plane. Photo by news.bbc.co.uk

None of the 165 crew and passengers onboard a Boeing plane operated by Taiwan's China Airlines was injured as it caught on fire on the Japanese island of Okinawa shortly after landing, the BBC reported.

Everyone had been evacuated by the time the flames engulfed the plane, whose cause is yet unknown.

"Everything was normal, including take-off and landing, until the pilots were told the airplane was on fire," China Airlines spokesman Johnson Sun was quoted as saying.

The Boeing 737-800 plane was on a routine flight between Taiwan's capital Taipei and Okinawa's Naha airport.

The fire broke out just minutes after the plane landed and it took fire fighters an hour to extinguish the flames, which have caused the jet to break into two.

China Airlines has one of the worst safety records for international flights, the BBC noted.

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