Smoke seen as ANA flight carrying 213 people lands safely in Japan

Tokyo: Oil sprayed from an All Nippon Airways plane as it landed Wednesday at Shin Chitose airport in northern Japan, but none of the 213 people on board was injured, officials said.

The nonflammable oil from a control system evaporated as it contacted a hot engine, giving the appearance of smoke, ANA officials said. The leakage did not jeopardise the safety of those on board, they said. The leak triggered a warning in the cockpit and its cause was being investigated.

ANA flight 71 from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport was carrying 204 passengers and nine crew members, the airline said. It landed safely and was later towed to the arrival terminal. All passengers and crew disembarked safely, the airline said. The Chitose city fire department said it mobilised several fire engines.

One of the two runways at New Chitose airport near Sapporo was temporarily closed for removal of oil that leaked from the plane. In January, a Japan Airlines flight and a coast guard plane collided and burst into flames at Haneda Airport.

All 379 passengers and crew members were evacuated from the JAL plane and survived. The pilot of the coast guard plane was injured and five crew members were killed.