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A Japan Airlines A350 burst into flames after colliding with a Japan Coast Guard plane on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday. All 379 passengers and crew on the A350 and the pilot of the Coast Guard plane escaped and the five crew members on the Coast Guard plane were killed.
Japan Airlines Airbus A350-041 (JA13XJ) was landing in Tokyo from a flight in Sapparo when it collided with a Japan Coast Guard De Havilland Canada DHC-8-315Q (JA722A) operating on a mission to support earthquake relief efforts in Western Japan. The video shows the dramatic collision, with the A350 bursting into flames upon impact and continuing down the runway with a plume of smoke and a trail of bright orange flames. FlightRadar24 reported this was the first hull loss of an Airbus A350 aircraft. The Japan Airlines plane had a normal flight and weather was unremarkable at the time of the incident, occurring in the evening on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
The 379 passengers and crew safely evacuated the plane while emergency responders worked to put out the blaze. CNN reported that more than 100 fire trucks were dispatched to the scene. Passengers told CNN that they heard a big bang and the cabin filled with gas and smoke. Reuters reported that at least 17 people evacuated from the A350 were injured. The New York Times reports that the Coast Guard members were headed to deliver supplies to the regions hit by the powerful New Year's Day earthquake, which killed 48 people. The NYT reported that the Coast Guard plane began taxiing to the runway about an hour before the collision.
"They were filled with a determined sense of mission, and it is extremely regrettable and distressing what has happened to them," the prime minister said, according to The New York Times. "I express my profound condolences to their surviving families."
Most of the departures at the airport were canceled and an investigation is ongoing.UpdateCNN released the ATC audio on Wednesday, revealing more details about the deadly collision. ATC cleared the commercial plane to land just before the collision, but the Coast Guard plane was told to hold. JAL was cleared to land on runway 34R and the Coast Guard plane was told to taxi to holding point C5. Tragically, the Coast Guard plane was on the runway when the A350 landed, colliding and causing the deaths of five crewmembers on the Coast Guard plane. CNN reported that the cockpit voice recorder for the Japan Airlines plane has not been found but the CVR for the Coast Guard plane has. It is still unknown whether the pilots on the A350 or the pilot on the Coast Guard plane, the only to escape from that crew, saw the other plane before the collision. The CVR can help investigators to understand what was going on moments before the impact.CNN also reported that the JAL crew said the in-flight system malfunctioned and they used a megaphone to communicate during the evacuation process. Reportedly, passengers said some of the exit doors were not operational and the in-flight communication system was not working during the hasty evacuation process. Video from inside the plane showed a smoke-filled cabin and passengers could be heard screaming as the flames glowed a bright orange just outside the windows. Fortunately, the evacuation process was smooth, with passengers listening and quickly exiting the plane without luggage as per the crewmember's instructions, even with a failed communication system and fewer emergency exits. The crew and passengers have been commended for the quick evacuation, which led to all 379 on board walking away from the fiery collision. The investigation is still ongoing.