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Last Updated: Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 15:41 GMT 16:41 UK
Taiwan jet in emergency landing
Firefighters surround a China Airlines plane that burst into a fireball at Naha Airport in Okinawa
On Monday a Boeing 737-800 burst into flames at Naha airport
A Taiwanese China Airlines plane has been forced to make an emergency landing at an airport in Japan, airport officials say.

The jet was on its way from Taipei to Nagoya when its pilots requested a landing at Kansai, in western Japan.

There were no reports of injuries to passengers or crew.

The incident comes two days after a China Airlines plane exploded in a fireball shortly after landing on Japan's southern island of Okinawa.

A spokesman for China Airlines, Johnson Sun, told the BBC News website that the main reason the plane had to make an unscheduled stop at Kansai airport was that it had been told that the runway at Nagoya had been closed.

He said the plane waited until the pilots were told that the runway was open and then continued on to Nagoya.

Earlier reports said the plane had been forced to land because it had run out of fuel.

In Monday's incident at Naha airport all 165 people on board survived, with some escaping just seconds before the plane exploded.

Aviation officials from the US and Taiwan have been examining the wreckage for clues as to why the plane burst into flames, and are reported to be focusing on the possibility of a fuel leak from one of the engines.


SEE ALSO
Officials probe Japan plane blaze
22 Aug 07 |  Asia-Pacific
Plane gutted at Japanese airport
20 Aug 07 |  Asia-Pacific
In pictures: Taiwan plane on fire
20 Aug 07 |  In Pictures
China Airlines back in the dock
03 Jun 03 |  Asia-Pacific
Hope fades in Taiwan crash search
25 May 02 |  Asia-Pacific
Country profile: Japan
28 Jul 07 |  Country profiles
Country profile: Taiwan
07 Jun 07 |  Country profiles



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