| NWA 747 makes emergency landing
TOKYO — A Boeing 747 jumbo jet operated by Northwest Airlines made an emergency landing in Okinawa today after smoke poured into the passenger cabin, officials said.
None of the passengers and crew on the flight, which was heading to Los Angeles from Hong Kong via Tokyo, were injured in the landing at Okinawa's Naha Airport, according to Northwest spokesman Masaki Takahashi.
Takahashi said there were 362 passengers and crew, but a Northwest statement later said there were 351 passengers and 15 crew.
The smoke came from an engine that had mechanical trouble, the statement said, without elaborating. Takahashi said the airline was investigating the incident, which occurred at around 12:30 p.m.
A replacement flight was scheduled to fly the passengers back to Tokyo later Saturday.
Back in 1999, I was flying on NWA from Los Angeles to Tokyo and we lost an engine right over the north Pacific. We were approx 500 miles to the north of the Midway islands. I had the honor of being the first passanger on the flight to ask the flight attandents why we were heading south and not west. I blew their "cover" and shortly afterwards, the pilot got on the PA and told us we were going to Hawaii. We ended up flying to Honolulu and I had a free night in Waikiki.
There nothing like in flight emergencies over the vast Pacific Ocean!
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"Pilot to copilot..... what are those mountain goats doing up here in the clouds?" | 
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