http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapc...ane/index.html
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- A Taiwanese jetliner burst into flames Monday morning shortly after landing at the Naha airport on the Japanese island of Okinawa, but 165 passengers and crew got off the plane safely, authorities said.
The Japanese Transport Ministry and the Naha Fire Department said the passengers included 155 adults and two toddlers. The crew was made up of 2 pilots and six flight attendants.
According to the ministry, there was "some sort of explosion" on board the China Airlines Boeing 737, but no other details were immediate available. Japanese media reported that a passenger saw a fire in one of the engines before the blast.
The Transport Ministry said the plane arrived in Okinawa from Taipei at 10:31 a.m. local time and stopped on the tarmac three minutes later to evacuate passengers. At 10:35 a.m., the fire department was called to the scene.
This incident is the latest in a series of accidents involving China Airlines. Jetliners for the air carrier crashed in 2002, 1999, 1998 and 1994, killing more than 1,000 people.
Another photo:
Dramatic video:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6ac_1187580141
The CNN article is somewhat inaccurate now that more information has come in. Reports from passengers interviewed on Japanese TV tonight indicate that there was a fire near the right wing root and that according to ground crew, while the passengers were disembarking, it spread to the left side of the aircraft and caused the left engine to explode.
When the fire was first noticed there were still passengers disembarking, so hats off to the CI flight attendants who got the remaining people out before things got really ugly. A real shame too for an airline that has worked hard to improve its public image in recent years.