The incident occurred around noon time after damage to the JASDF F-4 Phantom’s left-side main landing gear and both crew members were able to escape and were not injured
As shown by the video you find in this article a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-4 Phantom fighter caught fire while it was taxiing to the runway for take-off at Hyakuri airbase on Oct. 18.
The incident occurred around noon time after damage to the fighter’s left-side main landing gear and both crew members were able to escape and were not injured.
According to The Japan News, dark smoke rose from the airframe, but the fire was put out after about 20 minutes.
No commercial flights were affected at Ibaraki Airport, which shares the airfield with the Hyakuri airbase, according to the airport’s operator.
The incident followed the crash of a JASDF search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter off the coast of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Tuesday. The search for the helicopter’s four crew members continued on Wednesday.
Noteworthy the UH-60J helicopter disappeared from the radar around 6 p.m. Tuesday when it was flying over an area some 30 kilometers south of the coast in Hamamatsu.
Photo by The Japan News