Another take on China Airlines CI120
TOKYO: A China Airlines jet caught fire on the tarmac at an airport in Okinawa after arriving on a flight from Taipei, on Monday, but there were no passengers injured, officials said.
Giant flames and plumes of black smoke erupted from the Boeing 737 after it landed from Taipei at Naha airport on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
"I saw passengers getting out of the airplane. And then there were four explosions," a witness was quoted as saying.
All 155 passengers had disembarked from the Boeing 737 before the fire, a local news agency reported. National broadcaster said the pilot was also believed to have escaped the plane.
A transport ministry official could not confirm the number of passengers, but said all had left before the fire broke out. He said, however, that the safety of the crew was not immediately known.
The local media showed flames and black smoke billowing from the plane as fire fighters doused the wrecked fuselage with extinguishers.
Flight CI120 left Taipei at 8:15 a.m. and had been scheduled to arrive at Naha, on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, at 10:45a.m., the media reported.
In Taiwan, officials from China Airlines were not immediately available for comment.