A Japan Airlines plane caught fire after an apparent collision with a smaller coast guard plane on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
Police said all 379 passengers and crew on board were evacuated, but five of the Coast Guard plane’s six crew members were killed.
The captain was injured. Flames engulfed the plane after landing, sliding on the burning runway. Firefighters spent many hours putting out the fire. The plane took off from Sapporo, on the northern island of Hokkaido.
Aviation safety experts praised the crew for safely evacuating all passengers. Four Haneda runways were closed following the incident, disrupting the travel plans of thousands of passengers.
Japan Airlines Flight 516 took off from Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport at 4pm local time (07:00 GMT) and landed in Haneda just before 6pm.
Video shows him bursting into flames as he taxied down the runway after landing. One passenger told Kyodo news agency: “I felt a loud bang as if we hit something and I bounced as soon as the plane landed. ”
“I saw sparks outside the window and the cabin was filled with gasoline and smoke. ” Passengers escaped via emergency slides and ran onto the runway to safety, videos and photos showed.
Officials said the flight crew did not report any problems before landing. Communication with the flight controller is being investigated.
The cause of the collision is still unclear. The Coast Guard said an investigation is underway to determine how and when the two planes came into contact.
Five people die on coast guard plane after crash in Tokyo – watch live Dramatic video shows plane destroyed by fire at Haneda airport Japan Airlines’ statement said flight JL516 “was involved in a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft while landing at Haneda Airport, causing a fire on the runway”.
“We want to assure you that all passengers and crew on board our flight were evacuated safely. Our thoughts are with the fallen members of the Japan Coast Guard Copy. ” The Coast Guard aircraft – a De Havilland Dash 8 turboprop – is heading rescue and relief efforts after Monday’s earthquake in Ishikawa. It was one of four planes on a mission to the site of the earthquake.
Television footage showed several fire engines at the scene as smoke and flames rose from the Airbus. Images from inside the plane showed passengers surrounded by thick smoke.
The passenger plane’s body was burned to the ground. One woman posted a photo of a huge crowd watching the scene. “I was on the train.
I’m safeThank God,” she wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. But hours after the fire, Tokyo police confirmed reports that all five members of the coast guard were killed and said the pilot was seriously injured.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said authorities were trying to ensure the accident did not hinder the transport of earthquake relief materials. He said: “It is unfortunate because the crew members performed their duties with a high sense of mission and responsibility towards the victims of the disaster area. ”
NHK television quoted firefighters as saying at least 14 passengers and crew members evacuated from the Japan Airlines flight suffered minor injuries.
Flights at Haneda one of two international airports serving the Japanese capital were grounded and many flights had to be diverted to other airports in Japan while emergency rescue workers dealt with the “fire” situation.
All but one of the tracks where the crash occurred were open to traffic Tuesday night, the Department of Transportation said.
This is the first major accident involving the A350, a new generation aircraft made mainly from advanced materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic. Airbus is sending a team of experts to Japan to participate in the investigation.
The efforts of Japan Airlines cabin crew and pilots were also praised. Professor Graham Braithwaite, director of transport systems, told the media at Cranfield University in the US: “They were focused on safety.
They were the last to evacuate the plane and at first glance it looked like they were did an amazing job. ” Kingdom