Japan Airlines Flight In Emergency Landing After Bird Strike

A Japan Airlines plane bound for New York made an emergency landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday due to engine trouble apparently stemming from a bird strike, the transport ministry and airline operator said.

Flames were briefly seen coming from the left engine of the Boeing 777, which had departed the airport shortly after 11 a.m., according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Shutting down the left engine, the plane arrived at Haneda at 12:09 p.m. There were no reports of injuries among the 248 passengers and crew from the incident.

According to JAL, the Boeing 777 is a twin-engine plane and is capable of continuing to fly with a single engine on either of its wings.

An onboard alarm indicated trouble with the left engine and the aircraft notified the airport controller. One of the airport’s runways was briefly closed in response to the incident, the ministry said.

In 2016, 1,626 bird strikes were confirmed at airports across Japan. Haneda airport, located on the Tokyo Bay side of the capital, reported the most at 182 bird strikes.