TOKYO - AN All Nippon Airways plane landed on the wrong runway at Osaka's Itami airport on Friday, forcing another plane to delay take-off to avoid a collision,government and airport officials said.

None of the 165 passengers and crew aboard the ANA plane were injured.

The pilot of the ANA Airbus A320, arriving from Matsuyama, in western Japan, misheard the air traffic controller's instructions, and landed on the wrong runway, just as a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane was preparing to enter the same runway to take off, they said.

The pilot of the JAL plane halted after spotting the approaching ANA plane.

'If he hadn't noticed, an accident could have happened,' said a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official who declined to give his name, saying he was not a spokesman.

The ministry is questioning the traffic controller for more details, he said. -- REUTERS