Five people lost their lives when a Japan Airlines plane, carrying hundreds, collided with an earthquake relief aircraft, bursting into flames upon landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday.
All 379 on JAL flight 516, including eight infants, were safely evacuated, but fatalities occurred on the Japan Coast Guard's aircraft.
The Airbus A350-900 from Sapporo ignited upon landing at 5:46 p.m. local time (3:46 a.m. ET), creating a massive fireball and fiery trail.
Five crew members died on the second aircraft, a De Havilland Canada DHC-8, with the captain in critical condition, according to Japan’s transport minister.
Japan Airlines reported four passengers taken to hospitals, but no additional injuries were received, as stated by Senior Vice President Noriyuki Aoki in a Tuesday evening press conference.
Japan Airlines is actively participating in the investigation to determine responsibility for the deadly crash, as stated by its senior vice president of corporate safety and security, Tadayuki Tsutsumi. The French aviation agency is also dispatching its investigators to Tokyo as part of the team initiated by the Japan Transport Safety Board, according to an official statement.
In a subsequent announcement, Japan Airlines clarified that its crew had received clearance from air traffic control before the collision. Audio from LiveATC.net seems to confirm the crew reading back a clearance order for runway 34, stating, “cleared to land 34 right.”
The airline's statement highlighted that, based on interviews with the operating crew, they acknowledged and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control, proceeding with the approach and landing procedures. Following the landing, the Japan Airlines Airbus A350 "collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft and caught fire."
Post-blaze, the plane was observed stationary, with individuals using emergency slides to escape the inferno as firefighters worked to combat the escalating flames. NHK reports that over 100 fire trucks were dispatched in response to the accident.
‘Big bang’
Guy Maestre, originally from France, found himself on board an adjacent plane during Tuesday's accident and vividly recounts hearing a "big bang."
“I was hoping everyone was going to be safe,” Maestre, visiting Japan from Philadelphia, shared with CNN, emphasizing the shock of witnessing the incident.
“I was in another plane in the window seat – we were getting ready to take off and we heard a big bang.
“We looked from our windows and saw a huge trail of flames running down the runway.
“Flames got higher and higher then we saw fire trucks go by the runway.”
Mika Yamake had been on her way to the airport to meet her husband, who was on board the JAL plane, when news of the accident broke.
“I didn’t realize it was such a big incident until I saw images on the news,” she told CNN. “At first, it was just reports of smoke, but then I saw images of flames and I felt more worried. I only realized my husband was on that plane when he called me.”
“He called me from inside and told me he saw smoke coming out. I was relieved he was safe. He just came out with his mobile phone. He had to leave everything else behind.”
Mika’s husband, Satoshi Yamake, told CNN when the flight landed that he initially didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.
“We landed normally, didn’t feel a shock or anything,” Yamake shared with CNN at Haneda airport after evacuating from the crash.
He recounted seeing a fire shortly before an announcement instructed passengers to evacuate.
“But then we saw fire coming out of the engines and I found it strange. Just as I was thinking why the fire was burning for so long, an announcement came and said we probably hit something on the runway and we have to now evacuate the plane,” Yamake explained. “We could smell some smoke but passengers were not panicking a lot.”
How large is an Airbus A350-900?
The aircraft that caught fire at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport following a collision with another plane had a total of 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board, as reported by Japan Airlines. Tragically, five individuals on the Japan Coast Guard plane lost their lives, and 17 passengers on the commercial plane sustained injuries.
He mentioned he "didn't feel particularly frightened."
"Given that we've already landed, I figured the plane likely won't explode at this point. We should be okay as long as everyone disembarks in an orderly manner."
A spokesperson from the Japan Coast Guard informed CNN that its aircraft was en route from Haneda airport to an airbase in Niigata prefecture to assist with relief efforts following a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Monday.
Flight 516 had been inbound to Haneda from Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido prefecture. The airline noted it transported a total of 367 passengers, including eight infants, along with 12 crew members.
The majority of takeoffs from Haneda Airport are presently canceled, and the resumption of flight services remains uncertain, as reported by NHK.
