165 escape jet inferno

All 157 passengers, including two small children, fled the Boeing 737 on inflated emergency slides before the plane burst into a fireball.

China Airlines spokesman Sun Hung-wen said the aircraft skidded on the tarmac on its way from the runway to the gate after landing at the Okinawa airport, starting a fire that prompted the emergency exit.

The eight-member crew also safely left the plane, Sun said.

“The fire started when the first engine below the main left wing exploded, a minute after the aircraft entered the parking spot,” Tamura said, adding that one crew member was injured, though the extent of the injuries was not known.

National broadcaster NHK showed footage of a squad of firefighters dousing the evacuated plane with extinguishers as flames and black smoke billowed.

“After the plane landed, there were flames, and I heard explosions a few times then saw black smoke,” said airport worker Hideaki Oyadomari.

“We felt the hot air coming our way.”

Terrorism was not suspected.

“The plane landed safely so we are still checking why there was a fire,” said Sun.

China Airlines had recently appeared to have improved on a troubled safety record.