Poor communication between crew members triggered panic aboard a United Airlines jumbo jet involved in an accident in 1998 at Narita airport that injured 24 people, according to a Transport Ministry report released Friday.
In the accident, which occurred on May 12, 1998, a flight attendant who mistook a flame on an engine for a major fire switched on an emergency escape warning without first confirming the situation with colleagues, the report of the ministry's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission said.
Despite assurances by the captain that there was no fire, many panicked passengers evacuated the plane via emergency slides, during which 24 people suffered injuries, the report says.