Jet inferno raises number of questions for airlines

TV footage of Monday's explosion of a China Airlines passenger jetliner at Naha Airport in Okinawa Prefecture was shocking. The aircraft went up in a fireball and belched columns of black smoke while the fuselage was reduced to a charred wreck.

The accident occurred in the summer tour peak season minutes after the aircraft landed at the airport crowded with vacationers.

Fortunately, all 165 passengers and crew members on the flight from Taiwan escaped safely - but only by a hair's breadth.