Headlines
Asiana passenger plane skids off runway in Japan, 22 injured
Osaka, April 15
A passenger plane of South
Korea's Asiana Airlines skidded off the runway when landing at the
Hiroshima Airport in Japan late Tuesday, leaving at least 22 people
slightly injured.
The Airbus A320 ran halfway through the runway
after landing, skidded off to the left and turned around in the opposite
direction before it managed to halt, and fire and smoke were seen
coming from the engines, said the Japanese broadcaster NHK.
The
wheel of the aircraft might have struck a 6.4-meter-high wireless
communication facility near the runway when it landed in the airport,
said an official from the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism.
All of 73 passengers and 8 crewmembers
aboard the OZ162 flight managed to leave the plane by using an escape
chute after the incident happened.
Among the passengers, 46 are
Japanese, nine Chinese, eight South Koreans, two Canadians, two Swedes,
two Americans. Some 18 of the injured were sent to four hospitals for
treatment, Asiana Airlines said in a statement.
The plane, which
took off from South Korea's Incheon International Airport, landed at
Japan's Hiroshima Airport at about 8:05 p.m. on Tuesday.
Investigators
from the Transport Safety Board will arrive in the airport Wednesday
while South Korea's transport ministry will send investigators to the
airport and the Asiana Airlines to look into the incident, according to
Kyodo News.
Over 35 domestic flights have been canceled so far Wednesday after runways were shut down since Tuesday night.