White smoke was seen pouring from the engine of a Singapore Airlines plane as it landed at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on Monday, forcing authorities to close the runway for about an hour. One official said pieces of tire were found on the runway.
First responders found no signs of fire on flight SQ638, carrying 276 passengers and crew members. No injuries were reported and the plane was towed for repairs as runway B was closed for about 50 minutes from around 7:40 pm (local time).
Six fire engines and two ambulances were deployed to deal with the situation, an airport official told news agency AFP.
“We received reports of white smoke coming from the left engine,” a fire official in Narita city told AFP.
The airport office of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said the Boeing 787 aircraft may have encountered problems while landing at Narita airport.
“We were informed that there may be a problem with the plane landing,” a Narita Airport spokesman said.
The official said firefighters inspected the aircraft for more than an hour to detect any signs of fire and left after finding no reports of fire. He said tyre debris was found on the runway.
(With inputs from AFP)