TV footage of August 20'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.

There could have been a major disaster.

According to Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the explosion was probably caused by leaked fuel that somehow ignited.

As the Boeing 737-800 jetliner reached its parking spot, two ground maintenance workers noticed fuel leaking from around the engine mounted on the right side of the main wing.

They immediately urged the pilots to start firefighting and emergency evacuation procedures.

It appears the leaked fuel flowed on the tarmac to the left side of the fuselage.

A large explosion occurred around the left-side engine immediately after the passengers escaped by sliding down emergency chutes.

If there was a fuel leak, it raises extremely serious questions. Where in the fuel system did the leak occur? Were the fuel tanks or pipes damaged? Did not the pilots notice the leak earlier?

We want to hear clear and convincing answers to all these and other important questions.

No similar accident seems to have happened to a Boeing 737-800 plane in the past. But are not there any structural flaws in the design of this model?

Were there any lapses or inappropriateness in maintenance and inspections?

The transport ministry's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission and Okinawa prefectural police should identify the causes of the accident through exhaustive investigations that also cover the airline's daily operations and maintenance systems.

While nobody was seriously injured, pandemonium broke out inside the aircraft as passengers scrambled to the emergency exits.

One of the two dozen or so Japanese passengers described how some people were forced to remain inside the cabin as smoke started to penetrate the aircraft. It is shuddering to imagine what could have happened if the evacuation had taken any longer.

Aircraft are designed in such a way that ensures all passengers can evacuate within 90 seconds in an emergency, even when all the seats are occupied.

The evacuation of the China Airlines plane went well. But investigators should nevertheless look into whether the crew provided proper evacuation guidance.

The Taipei-based China Airlines has had a troubled safety record. In 1994, a China Airlines Airbus crashed on landing at the Nagoya Airport, killing 264 of the 271 people on board.

In 1998, an Airbus crashed into a residential area while trying to land at Taoyuan International Airport. In 2002, one of its Boeing 747s crashed into the Taiwan Straits.

Each of these accidents resulted in more than 200 fatalities.

China Airlines should not just try to discover the cause of the latest accident. It should also review its flight management, crew training program and other parts of its operations.

Deregulation of international air travel over the years has intensified global competition in the airline industry.

Airlines around the world have been making serious efforts to cut costs and streamline their operations to survive.

But they must never compromise on safety in their cost-cutting drives.

This is a concern that must be shared by Japanese airlines too.

They should learn lessons from the accident at Naha Airport and make a sweeping review of their systems and measures for safety.