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'I was panicking': Passenger recalls earlier Boeing 777 jet failure over Japan

Reuters
·2 min read

TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - When Naru Kurokawa heard news atthe weekend that an engine had caught fire on a Boeing 777 whileover the United States, he recalled his own fear in Decemberwhen an engine also failed as he was flying over Japan on thesame model of jet.

"I was panicking in my head, thinking about how I was maybegoing to die," said the 40-year-old, describing his alarm whenthe Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) Boeing 777 he was on was forcedto make an emergency landing about 40 minutes after take off.

"I thought I would go insane if I accepted the thought ofdeath, so I focussed on taking videos of the situation," he saidof the Dec. 4 flight to Tokyo that was forced to return toOkinawa airport because of a malfunction in the left engine.

He posted the video on his Twitter account https://twitter.com/narukuro0122/status/1334750198581489664.

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On Saturday, a United Airlines Boeing 777 sufferedan engine fire, scattering debris over the U.S. city of Denverand prompting Boeing to urge airlines to suspend flightsof 777s that use the same Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.

Japan's transport ministry ordered JAL and ANA Holdings Incon Sunday to suspend use of 777s with that engine typewhile it considered whether to take additional measures.

"Watching videos of the United Airlines flight and enginesin flames brought back the fear I experienced," said Kurokawa, aweb director and musician from Okinawa.

He had been making a video from his seat next to the windowon the left side of the plane as he heard a loud ripping noisefollowed by a huge shake.

An employee of the Okinawa Times newspaper Minako Kuroshima,who was also on that JAL plane, wrote afterwards that a pilottold passengers the plane was flying with only the right engine.

The JAL plane made an emergency landing. There were noinjuries among the 11 crew or 178 passengers, local mediareported.

Japan Transport Safety Board said on Dec. 28 that two of theleft engine's fan blades were found damaged, one from fatiguefracture. Damage was also seen in other parts of the planeincluding the engine cowl and fuselage.

A safety board spokesman said on Monday the investigationinto the JAL incident was continuing.(Reporting by Eimi Yamamitsu; Editing by Edmund Blair)