Smoking Singapore Airlines plane forces runway closure in Japan

FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

TOKYO — A report of white smoke coming from a landing Singapore Airlines plane forced a runway at Japan’s Narita Airport to close temporarily on Monday, officials said, though responders found no signs of fire and no one was injured.

The smoke prompted six fire engines and two ambulances to rush to the scene, and Narita’s runway B was closed from around 7:40 am (2240 GMT), shortly after the flight landed at the gateway to Tokyo, airport and fire officials said.

“We received a report of white smoke rising from the left engine,” a Narita city fire official told AFP.

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But there was no sign of fire and no one was injured, she said, adding that firefighters left the scene after observing the plane for over an hour.

The plane was carrying 276 passengers and crew members, local media said.

The flight reported the smoke to the airport after landing, an airport official told AFP.

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“It communicated that there was a possibility that it experienced a problem when it landed,” a spokesman at Narita International Airport told AFP.

Pieces of tyre were found on the runway, the spokesman said, adding there was no further information to offer about the incident.