All 158 people aboard an All Nippon Airways Boeing 737-800 left the aircraft by emergency slide at Naha Airport in Okinawa on the night of September 23 after the crew shut down the right engine and turned back. The trigger was an indication that the engine’s oil temperature had climbed abnormally high roughly 20 minutes after takeoff on Flight 1502, bound for Saga on the island of Kyushu.
Three passengers suffered minor injuries, described as scratches, and Japan’s transport ministry classed the event as a serious incident, the category for occurrences that came close to being an accident.
Twenty minutes out of Naha
According to a Jiji Press report published on Nippon.com, the 737-800 was carrying 152 passengers when “an indicator showed that the oil temperature in the right engine was abnormally high” about 20 minutes after departure. The crew shut the engine down and returned to Naha, touching down after 10 p.m. No fire or smoke was reported, and the evacuation took place on the taxiway rather than on the runway.
The 158 figure comes from adding the crew. Gulf News breaks the total into 152 passengers and 6 crew members, all of whom left by the slides, and The Flight Brief likewise reports 158 passengers and crew evacuating on ANA 1502 from Naha to Saga. NHK’s coverage of the aftermath also gives 158 as the number involved and three as the number hurt.
What the aircraft and passengers reported
Details of the aircraft come mainly from aviation-trade reporting. Aviation Hub identifies it as a Boeing 737-881 registered JA86AN, roughly 10.5 years old, configured with 166 seats and operated by ANA Wings on domestic routes. That report says the right CFM International CFM56 engine showed vibrations during the climb, followed by the high oil-temperature indication at about 22,000 feet, before the crew shut it down and flew back to land on runway 36R.
Passengers described a jolt in the air before the turnaround. One traveler recalled “a loud boom during the flight,” according to Gulf News, and Need To Know reports that another passenger’s child was frightened throughout the ordeal, while another traveler said surviving was a relief. Gulf News adds that the three people with scratches declined ambulance transport and that passengers were rebooked on a Fukuoka flight the following morning.
The boom and the vibration are passenger and trade-press accounts. Investigators have not confirmed either, and no official narrative of the flight had been published by September 28, so the sequence from vibration to oil-temperature warning to shutdown rests on secondhand reporting.
The accounts differ on some points, which is normal for an incident only days old. The Jiji report dated September 24 counts 152 passengers, while other outlets give 158 for everyone on board. The Flight Brief says the specific 737 variant was not confirmed by ANA, whereas Aviation Hub names it a 737-881 and Gulf News, Need To Know and Rus Tourism News all call it a 737-800. Reports also vary on whether the evening was September 23 or 24 in Japan, and the September 23 date used here is the one given by NHK, Gulf News, Need To Know and Rus Tourism News. Gulf News puts the departure from Naha at about 9 p.m., which fits a return and landing shortly after 10 p.m., roughly an hour later.
A serious-incident designation and three investigators
Japan’s transport ministry classified the event as a serious incident, the term used for occurrences with the potential to become accidents, and appointed three aircraft accident investigators, who were dispatched to the airport, the Jiji report says. NHK reported that the Japan Transport Safety Board sent investigators to Naha on September 25 to examine the aircraft on site. According to The Flight Brief, they are expected to determine whether the indication reflected a real engine problem or a sensor malfunction, and to look at maintenance records and crew decisions.
ANA said it would “cooperate fully with the Japan Transport Safety Board as investigators examine the cause of the engine problem,” in a statement quoted by Rus Tourism News. Need To Know reports that the airline also offered “deepest apologies for the concern and inconvenience caused,” and that officials collected flight data and cockpit voice recordings.
No cause has been announced. Sources agree that no fire or smoke was reported, and none says whether the engine, its oil system or a warning sensor was at fault. The open question is why an engine that gave its first warning about 20 minutes after takeoff ended with six crew and 152 passengers going down slides onto a taxiway, and whether the Safety Board finds that the evacuation was needed or a precaution.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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