Fuel leak suspected in plane blast probe

Boeing and US aviation experts arrived in Japan today to investigate the Taiwanese jet explosion and a suspected fuel leak.

The China Airlines Boeing 737-800 exploded in a fireball on Monday, seconds after all 157 passengers and eight crew evacuated safely on to the tarmac at Okinawa’s Naha airport in southern Japan.

Investigators are focusing on a suspected fuel leak from one of the engines, based on observations reported by ground engineers that fuel was leaking from the right engine as the plane pulled into a parking spot after arriving from Taiwan.

“From the size and intensity of the fire, we may be looking at a very large fuel leak,” said Hiromi Tsurumi, a spokesman with Japan’s Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission.

Five US aviation officials, including experts from the aircraft maker Boeing, arrived in Naha to participate in the probe, which also involves Taiwanese and Japanese authorities.

Among their key interests was possible damage to the pylon connecting the engine to the right wing, Tsurumi said.

Investigators plan to take apart the pylon later to see if there was any damage inside that could have punctured a pipe, causing fuel to rush into the engine and ignite fire. The jet had about 4.7 tons of fuel when it landed, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

China Airlines published an apology in major Japanese newspapers today.

The accident is a blow to the airline, which has been struggling to shake off its reputation of a poor safety record. Today, the company logo and a trademark plum flower on the tail wing on the mangled aircraft were marked out, reportedly because the airline’s concerns about the image problem.

A China Airlines 747 crashed in 2002 as it flew from Taipei to Hong Kong, leading to 225 deaths. Some 450 people died in China Airlines accidents during the 1990s.