JAL DC-10 engine exploded on take-off

[Denny Yen 0]

Did anyone see the JAL DC-10 #1 engine explosion on NHK late news on Friday evening?

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/2005/08/14/d20050812000176.html#

 

Metal fragments from a Japan Airlines group passenger airplane fell on a residential area of the city of Fukuoka after one of its three engines burst into flames minutes after takeoff Friday night, leaving some people on the ground slightly injured.

    The Honolulu-bound aircraft of Japan Airlines' low-cost carrier JALways returned to Fukuoka Airport after the incident, airport and airline officials said.

    None of the 216 passengers and 13 crew members aboard Flight JO58, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, was hurt, according to JAL.

    Fukuoka prefectural police said they received a number of calls reporting metal fragments dropping onto the ground after an aircraft flew over.

    There were reports of a car windshield being cracked and a metal fragment fell on the ground near a soccer pitch where a match was being held. A 13-year-old junior high school student got a bruise on his shoulder after a falling metal fragment hit him while four people suffered burns after picking up fragments, according to the police.

    The transport ministry's airport office said a component -- a turbine blade of the No. 1 engine of the left wing -- was damaged while the plane was flying at an altitude of about 150 meters. It ascended to around 900 meters, dumped fuel and returned to the airport. The airport's runway was temporarily closed.

    The engine burst into flames at around 7:45 p.m. According to JAL's website, the flight left at 7:32 p.m. and returned at 8:25 p.m.

    JAL said the engine developed trouble after some of its parts broke, denying the possibility it was hit by a bird or other external objects.

    Excessive burning must have occurred as the flow of air inside the engine was disturbed after the parts broke, JAL said.

    Passengers were offloaded about an hour later and appeared in the airport's arrival lobby.

    The flight hours of the engine totaled 60,599 hours, according to JAL.

    ''A huge sound, like an explosion, was heard just about the time the nose of the plane lifted after takeoff,'' said Yasunobu Motoda, 46, a company employee from Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture.

    ''The altitude was probably around several hundred meters. I was so scared, thinking if we could just dive into the sea. I just trembled because it was just after I watched news of the 20th anniversary of the Osutaka accident,'' he said, referring to the 1985 crash of a JAL Boeing 747 that killed all but four of the 524 people on board.

    JAL said 40 of the 216 passengers gave up taking another flight to Honolulu.

    Japan Airlines Domestic Co. convened an emergency press conference at Fukuoka Airport and apologized for the incident.

    ''We are very sorry as we have to report this incident to you just after we have vowed to ensure safe flights'' on the 20th anniversary of the 1985 accident, said Haruyuki Egawa, head of the airline's Fukuoka Airport branch.

    Police said several tens of fragments that could belong to the plane were found in residential areas of Fukuoka's Higashi Ward, near the airport.

    Video footage captured by Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) showed a blast of fire from the engine on the left side of the plane just after takeoff, which instantly obscured part of the wing but soon faded out as the aircraft continued its ascent.

    JALways, a JAL subsidiary, chiefly flies to Hawaii and other overseas resort destinations from local airports.