The fire that broke out in the engine of a Skymark Airlines jetliner just after takeoff from Kagoshima airport in December 2005 was likely caused by sulfur particulate attaching to the turbine blades, a Japan Transport Safety Board panel said Friday.
The Japan Transport Safety Board, part of the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, said in a report that the sulfur particulate may have been part of yellow sand containing volcanic gas and sulfides.
The sulfur, which differed from the volcanic ash of Sakurajima, an active volcano near the airport, would have corroded the blades and induced metal fatigue, the board said.