JAL plane returns after emergency sparked by fire signal

A Japan Airlines Co. plane returned to Aomori airport Saturday after a system message signaled one of its engines had caught fire mid-air, the company said.

Flight JL2154 bound for Osaka was carrying 47 people — including five crew members — when it was forced to return to Aomori because of the message in the cockpit that suggested the left engine had caught fire, the carrier said. No injuries were reported in the incident.

“We are confirming whether the engine actually caught fire,” JAL said in a text message, adding that the Embraer SA jet landed at Aomori as the fire signal disappeared after the crew halted the engine.

JAL’s operations have been under intense scrutiny since January, when one of its aircraft collided with a small coast guard plane on the runway at Haneda airport. Five people were killed in the incident and the Airbus SE jetliner burst into flames, although all passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the A350-900.

The carrier has attributed these incidents to factors such as time pressures and staffing shortages. 

In May, a JAL pilot failed to properly repeat air traffic controller instructions at Fukuoka airport in Japan’s southwest and subsequently moved beyond a stop line, entering the runway without the control tower’s clearance.

In another incident, the tips of two JAL planes came into contact at Haneda airport as one was reversing away from the terminal to prepare for take-off while the other was moving forward to enter an adjacent parking spot. The plane backing out had 328 passengers and crew on board and was scheduled to fly to Hokkaido but the flight had to be canceled.

JAL submitted a safety improvement report to the transport ministry earlier this month, with JAL Chief Executive Officer Mitsuko Tottori vowing to win back the public’s trust.