ALERT: Japan Airlines Plane Makes Emergency Landing (September 5, 2017)
September 5, 2017
A Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo to New York made an emergency landing at Haneda International Airport on Tuesday. The cause is pending, but has been alleged to be a bird strike during takeoff. No injuries were reported.
The Japan Times reports:
A total of 251 passengers and crew members were aboard the plane, but no one was injured.
The operator of the Boeing 777 first suspected a bird strike, but the ministry later said there was no sign that birds had been hit by the aircraft.
JAL Flight 6 took off from Haneda airport at 11 a.m., heading in a northerly direction. An onboard alarm indicated trouble with the left engine shortly afterward and the aircraft notified air traffic control.
After the pilots shut down the left engine, the plane returned to Haneda and landed at 12:09 p.m.
After the landing, the transport ministry’s office at the airport confirmed via a monitor that flames were coming from the plane’s left engine and noticed smoke rising from grass near the northern edge of the runway. The runway was closed and shattered aircraft parts were later found there.
According to the International Business Times:
Video footage broadcast by Japan’s public broadcaster NHK News showed red flames flickering from the left engine of the Boeing 777 as the aircraft ascended from the runway.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism official, a grass field near one of the runways caught fire for a brief period after the JAL plane departed, but it was doused immediately.
Passengers on board heaved a sigh of relief as they landed safely.
“Right after taking off, we heard five bangs and the plane shook,” a 57-year-old passenger told NHK after landing. “But all the passengers were calm.”
Haneda, one of the world’s busiest airports, is reported to be the worst for bird strikes in Japan.
There were apparently 182 cases of bird strikes last year, which was followed by Osaka airport with 73 cases and Narita at 57, according to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
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