Many Metal Fragments Collected after JAL Plane Trouble

May 27, 2018

Kumamoto- Transport authorities said Friday that 98 metal fragments were collected after engine trouble of a Japan Airlines jet flying over the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto the previous day.

Most of the pieces, discovered in the Kumamoto town of Mashiki, are believed to have fallen from the airplane, officials of the transport ministry's Kumamoto Airport office said.

Damage from the metal has been confirmed at five locations, including a window of a hospital.

According to the ministry, the turbine in the left engine was partially broken.

Scratch marks have been found across a wide area at the back of the left engine, Toyohiko Kiso, an aviation accident investigator dispatched by the Japan Transport Safety Board, said after conducting on-side checks on Friday.

The back of the engine may have suffered secondary damage after a front part broke, he also said.

The plane left the airport around 3:40 p.m. Thursday (6:40 a.m. GMT) for Tokyo International Airport at Haneda. After the engine trouble, the plane returned to Kumamoto Airport.

None of the 217 passengers and crew members on the plane suffered injury. The ministry designated the trouble as a serious incident that could have caused an accident. Jiji Press