A jetliner of the type that suffered an engine fire while operating a JALways service to Honolulu on Aug. 13, causing metal fragments to be scattered over Fukuoka.

After the engine trouble, the Honolulu-bound aircraft of low-cost carrier JALways returned to Fukuoka Airport.

Some children on the ground who had been playing soccer were hurt slightly when they were hit by the small fragments or got burned trying to pick them up, police said.

There were also reports that a car windshield was cracked and that a metal fragment landed near a field where a soccer match was being held.

The Transport Ministry's airport office said a turbine blade in the No. 1 engine under the left wing was damaged while the plane was flying at an altitude of about 150 meters. It climbed to around 900 meters, dumped fuel and returned to the airport.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 20, 2005
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