Plane Catches Fire as It Touches Down

An explosion sparked a raging fire aboard a Taiwanese jet in the second disaster to strike a Taiwanese passenger plane in several days. The fiery landing of the UNI Airlines MD-90 followed a China Airlines crash-landing in Hong Kong. Both planes were manufactured by McDonnell Douglas Corp. The plane in the latest incident caught fire on the runway as the jet touched down at the airport in Hualien. Of the 96 people aboard, 28 were hospitalized. Many suffered facial burns. Authorities were not sure what caused the explosion and said they could not rule out a bomb.