作者tkucwlin (cw)
看板Aviation
標題[新聞] All Passengers Escape as Jetliner Bursts Into Flames ...
時間Tue Aug 21 01:30:23 2007
All Passengers Escape as Jetliner Bursts Into Flames in Japan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 20, 2007
Filed at 11:59 a.m. ET
NAHA, Japan (AP) -- Passengers used emergency slides to evacuate a China
Airlines jet just minutes before the plane burst into a fireball Monday on
the tarmac. All 165 people aboard escaped unhurt, including the pilot, who
jumped from the cockpit at the last second.
Transport Ministry official Akihiko Tamura told reporters that airport
traffic controllers had received no report from the pilot indicating anything
was wrong with the Boeing 737-800.
''The fire started when the left engine exploded a minute after the aircraft
entered the parking spot,'' Tamura said.
The plane burst into flames seconds after what the last crew member escaped
from a rear door and the pilot jumped from the cockpit window, according to
footage from national broadcaster NHK.
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.
''After the plane landed, there were flames, and I heard explosions a few
times, then saw black smoke,'' Hideaki Oyadomari, an airport worker, told
NHK. ''We felt the hot air coming our way.''
Japan's National Police Agency said terrorism was not suspected. Initial
reports from ground personnel showed that a fuel leak from the right engine
could have led to a series of explosions, according to another Transmport
Ministry official, Fumio Yasukawa.
Local fire official Hiroki Shimabukuro said two passengers -- a 7-year-old
girl and a man in his 50s -- were 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.
The fire was put out about an hour later, leaving the aircraft charred and
mangled.
Several passengers told NHK they were preparing to get off the plane after
what seemed like an ordinary landing when they were suddenly told to use the
emergency slides to evacuate.
Some said they saw smoke and flames entering the cabin and that there was a
stampede to exit. Minutes later, many said, they heard explosions.
''I suddenly saw flames beside me, and everybody started rushing to get
out,'' a male passenger told 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.
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 airlines, as well as some 737-700
models that carry a similar engine.
China Airlines' 737-800 had CFM 56 engines, made by CFM International, a
joint venture between GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric Co., and
France's Snecma, Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said. All 737-800s are built
with the same engine.
Proulx said Japan requested technical assistance from and a Boeing
investigator was expected to arrive by Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration sent investigators to examine the scene, spokeswoman Laura J.
Brown said in Washington.
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, and some 450 people died in China Airlines accidents
during the 1990s.
''We are prepared to do its best to get to the bottom of this incident,''
China Airlines president Zhao Guoshi told reporters at a press conference at
Naha airport late Monday. ''I apologize for the trouble we have caused our
passengers.''
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