Singapore Airlines' SQ638 lands at Narita Airport with smoke from tyre, no injuries reported

White smoke was seen emanating from a Singapore Airlines (SIA) plane as it touched down at Narita International Airport on Monday (Aug 12) morning.

According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, the city fire department dispatched fire engines to the airport's Runway B after receiving a report at about 6.50am SGT.

No injuries were reported.

Flight SQ638 was carrying 276 passengers and crew on board, said the Narita International Airport Corporation.

Runway B was temporarily closed for the aircraft to be towed away, Kyodo News reported. The affected runway reopened at about 7.30am SGT.

Tyre debris was also found on the runway, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's airport office.

In response to AsiaOne's queries, a spokesperson from SIA said flight SQ638 experienced a "technical issue with its brakes" upon landing at Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan on Aug 12.

SIA's ground engineering team resolved the technical issue and replaced one of the tyres on the Boeing 787-10 aircraft, which was carrying 260 passengers and 16 operating crew on board.

While earlier media reports said that the smoke came from the aircraft's left engine, SIA clarified that the smoke came from the tyre.

"The issue resulted in a delay of just over two hours to flight SQ637, which departed Tokyo (Narita) for Singapore on Aug 12 at 1328hrs (local time)," added the spokesperson.

"SIA apologises to all customers for the inconvenience caused by this incident. The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority."

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com