Honolulu-bound jet
has engine trouble

Passengers on the Japan Airlines
flight say they heard blasts

TOKYO » A Japan Airlines passenger jet bound for Honolulu returned to Fukuoka Airport in southern Japan yesterday after developing engine trouble shortly after takeoff, officials said.

Flight No. 58, operated by JAL subsidiary Jalways Co., landed safely, causing no injuries, said Harumi Matsuno at the airport's flight information center.

The aircraft, a DC-10, developed engine trouble shortly after taking off at Fukuoka Airport, heading for Honolulu, Matsuno said. The plane was carrying 216 passengers and 13 crew members, Transport Ministry officials said.

Nearly 100 flat metal pieces believed to be airplane parts were found scattered in vast areas in Fukuoka City, about 560 miles southeast of Tokyo, local police said. Several children suffered minor burns when they touched the parts, which were still hot, police said.

Transport Ministry official Kenji Sato said the parts are believed to be turbine blades that broke off inside the engine, which was made by U.S.-based Pratt & Whitney. Sato said the ministry has set up a task force to investigate the incident.

NHK showed footage of orange flames bursting out of the left engine as the plane soared into the night sky seconds after takeoff. Passengers reported hearing blasts immediately after takeoff.

The trouble involved damage in turbine blades inside the No. 1 engine attached to the aircraft's left wing, NHK said.

The incident occurred on the 20th anniversary of a JAL Boeing 747 jumbo jet crash that killed 520 people. JAL President Toshiyuki Shimmachi prayed for the victims earlier yesterday and pledged that a disaster like that would never be repeated.

"We are very sorry to have to report this on an important day like this," JAL's Fukuoka branch manager, Haruyuki Egawa, was quoted as saying by Kyodo News.

JAL, the nation's flag-carrier, has been plagued by a series of embarrassing safety lapses this year, drawing widespread attention.

In June the tires on the two front wheels of a JAL domestic flight came off during a landing at Haneda airport in Tokyo. The incident prompted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to order Japan's airlines to conduct safety inspections.