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Asiana Airlines plane skids off runway at Hiroshima airport

23 passengers injured after jet veers off runway

Doug Bolton
Friday 17 April 2015 14:52 BST
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The Asiana Airlines passenger slid on to an embankment
The Asiana Airlines passenger slid on to an embankment (Reuters)

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Investigations are underway after an Asiana Airlines jet skidded off the runway at Hiroshima Airport in Japan, leaving 23 passengers injured.

Airport authorities reported that the Airbus A320's tail touched the runway while landing, causing it to slide off the runway on to a nearby embankment.

The plane's left wing and engine were damaged in the crash, with some passengers giving unconfirmed reports to local media of smoke entering the cockpit and flames coming from the engine.

Passengers interviewed by Japanese media after the accident described a tense evacuation, with the plane's emergency slides being deployed while several fire engines stood nearby.

Officials check broken localiser facilities at Hiroshima airport
Officials check broken localiser facilities at Hiroshima airport (JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images)
An Asiana Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft is seen with its evacuation slides deployed after it overran a runway at the Hiroshima airport in Mihara in Hirishima prefecture, western Japan on April 15, 2015.
An Asiana Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft is seen with its evacuation slides deployed after it overran a runway at the Hiroshima airport in Mihara in Hirishima prefecture, western Japan on April 15, 2015. (JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images)

While it is not yet clear what caused the accident, a Japanese transport ministry official said the plane may have clipped an airport communications antenna which then got stuck in the engine.

74 passengers and 7 crew were on board the Asiana flight 162 from Incheon Airport near Seoul in South Korea.

None were severely hurt, with most injuries being bruises and scratches from the rough landing, and all passengers were safely evacuated.

An injured passenger is carried into an ambulance after the accident
An injured passenger is carried into an ambulance after the accident (JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images)

In July 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight crashed during a landing at San Francisco International Airport, after its tail struck a seawall near the runway, killing three teenagers and injuring 200 others.

Hiroshima Airport, one of the busiest in Japan, was closed several hours after the crash, for transport ministry officials to investigate the cause of the accident.

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