Runway at Japan’s Narita airport closed for hours after US cargo plane makes emergency landing

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A runway at Japan’s Narita airport was closed on Tuesday after an American cargo plane made an emergency landing.

Authorities said one of the two runways at the airport in Chiba prefecture was shut down after a Boeing 747 jet of Atlas Air made an emergency landing due to an issue with its hydraulic system.

The cargo plane was en route to Los Angeles when the problem became apparent at about 1.10am, a transport ministry spokesperson said.

The runway was closed for about seven hours. The crew on the Atlas Air plane was unharmed.

“The seven crew members of the Boeing 747 were not injured, but tyres were found ruptured and the wheels damaged,” the spokesperson said.

The plane’s “tyres were changed” at the Narita airport.

The emergency landing of the cargo jet, however, did not have much impact on other flights, authorities said.

The Independent has reached out to Atlas Air for comment.

The Atlas Air emergency landing came a day after a Singapore Airlines plane faced a “technical issue” upon landing at Narita airport. The Boeing 787-10 aircraft reportedly had white smoke coming out of its engine when it landed.

The incident involving flight SQ638 forced the other runway at Narita airport to be closed for just under an hour on Monday. There were no signs of fire and no one was injured.

Singapore Airlines later said the flight had “experienced a technical issue with its brakes upon landing”.