Japan airport runway closed after cargo plane emergency landing

One of the two runways at Japan's Narita Airport was closed on Tuesday after an American cargo plane made an emergency landing due to an issue with its hydraulic system, officials said.

An Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo jet en route to Los Angeles turned back to Narita for an emergency landing after the problem became apparent at 1:10am (1610 GMT), a transport ministry spokesman said.

"The seven crew members of the Boeing 747 were not injured, but tyres were found ruptured and the wheels damaged," the spokesman told AFP.

Narita's runway A was closed for at least seven hours, but the "tyres were changed and the operation of the runway is expected to resume at 8:30 am," he said.

The closure's impact on other flights had been minimal, he added.

No further details of the mechanical issue were immediately available.

The incident comes after a brake glitch on a Singapore Airlines plane forced a runway closure at Narita on Monday.

Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene after smoke was reported as coming from the arriving Singapore Airlines plane, though responders found no signs of fire and no one was injured.

The company later clarified that the flight had "experienced a technical issue with its brakes upon landing".

Narita's runway B was closed for just under an hour after the flight landed around 7:40 am, airport and fire officials said.