Prosecutors have decided not to indict an unnamed individual at Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier for failing to attach a bolt on a passenger plane that caused it to make a nose-landing at Kochi airport in 2007.
The prosecutors said it is impossible to identify the suspect because they do not have authority to investigate abroad.
Police sent papers to the prosecutors earlier this month as their investigation into the emergency landing of the Bombardier DHC8-Q400, in which no one was injured, found that the lack of a bolt to lock the front landing-gear doors obstructed deployment during the landing.
But without sufficient cooperation from the manufacturer, the police were unable to identify who was responsible for failing to attach the bolt, according to investigative sources.
The investigators have found that All Nippon Airways, which operated the twin-engine propeller plane through regional carrier Air Central Co., was not at fault in its operation or inspection of the aircraft.
The plane, flying from Osaka to Kochi, made an emergency landing at the airport March 13, 2007, with only its main gear deployed after its captain reported to the tower that he was unable to lower the front gear, even manually.
The plane landed successfully on the 2,500-meter runway with its nose touching the surface, giving off sparks before it came to a halt. There were 56 passengers and four crew members aboard.
