Passengers were evacuated from All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 767 aircraft on Monday at 10:00 a.m. local time prior to its departure to Hong Kong from Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture after the passenger cabin filled with smoke.
After the plane's doors had been closed at the gate, 137 passengers who had boarded flight 809 bound for Hong Kong were evacuated back to the terminal.
At least four of those evacuated from the plane complained off feeling ill after inhaling the smoke but no one was hospitalized, official said.
One man was quoted by local media as saying, "as soon as the plane's doors closed, smoke came billowing out of the air conditioner and the inside of the plane quickly became filled white with smoke."
"There was a smell of burning machinery, so I covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief," the male passenger said.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said that upon investigation of the grounded plane, they found that an oil leakage had occurred in the auxiliary engine at the rear of the plane and smoke had flowed into the passenger cabin.
The ministry said there was no sign of fire, however.
A representative for ANA said they were also investigating the cause of the accident.
