Passengers injured after plane skids off runway
Air safety authorities have launched an investigation into how an Asiana Airlines plane skidded off a runway as it landed at Hiroshima airport in Japan, injuring at least 20 people.
The aircraft spun 180 degrees and hit an 18-foot tower before coming to rest on a grass verge.
The 74 passengers and seven crew were forced to evacuate the Airbus 320 using emergency chutes, said the BBC. Local news reports claimed at least 20 had minor injuries. The airport was closed for several hours following the incident late last night.
Early reports suggested the aircraft, which was travelling from Seoul in South Korea, might have clipped a radio facility sited near the runway to help aircraft find the landing strip. A fragment was found on a wheel of the plane.
Asiana Airlines apologised for the incident, and said it had set up a response team. "As to the determination of the cause of the accident, we will co-operate as closely as possible with the relevant authorities," it said.
In July 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Incheon crashed at San Francisco airport after its tail clipped a sea wall, killing three passengers.
Two years earlier, two Asiana pilots were killed when their argo flight crashed into the sea off South Korea’s Jeju island.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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