TOKYO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) F4 fighter jet caught fire as it was taxing to a runway at an airbase in Ibaraki Prefecture, both the Ministry of Defense and the ASDF said Wednesday.
The fire, which started at around 11:45 a.m. local time at the ASDF's Hyakuri Air Base, was extinguished by rescue personnel about 30 minutes later, ASDF officials said.
They added that the two pilots aboard escaped the burning plane without injury.
Officials at the base said that Ibaraki Airport, which shares the runway with the ASDF base was unaffected, and that the area the F4 fighter jet caught fire was not being used by civilian aircraft.
They added that civilian flights to and from the airport have even unaffected by the incident.
Self-Defense Force personnel are looking into the cause of the fire, officials said.
The F4 jet was scheduled to undertake a series of training drills after taking off from the base in the northeastern part of Kanto, on Japan's main island of Honshu, ASDF officials said.
