Smoke-filled North Korean airliner forced to land
July 22, 2016
An airliner operated by North Korea's flag carrier caught fire and made an emergency landing at around 9 a.m. local time (0100 UTC) Friday in northeastern China, airport officials said.
The Beijing-bound Flight JS-151 from Pyongyang had made a safe emergency landing after smoke appeared in the cabin, but "nothing abnormal" had been found with the aircraft, Shenyang airport said in a short statement on its microblog, adding that an investigation was underway.
"Later, oxygen masks dropped and several passengers began to have breathing difficulty because of the oxygen shortage in the cabin," Xinhua reported.
The airline has released no information but authorities on the ground confirmed that the plane had caught fire for unknown reasons and that no one was injured.
Air Koryo hobbled by sanctions
Air Koryo occupies bottom spot in the Skytrax star rating system for commercial airline despite just one recorded fatality in more than 30 years.
But critics point out that the record is built on an extremely limited service which currently comprises regular flights to just three destinations in China, and Vladivostok in eastern Russia.
International sanctions mean North Korea's airliner fleet consists entirely of aging Soviet and Russian jets. The Pyongyang-Beijing service uses a Tupolev Tu-204-300 a medium-range jet airliner.
The airline has refused comment.
jar/kms (AFP, AP)