All 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane escaped the burning airliner after a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport that killed five of six crew on the smaller aircraft on Tuesday.
Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the JAL Airbus A350, airliner burst into flames as it skidded the tarmac shortly before 6.00 p.m. (0900 GMT).
Video and images shared on social media showed passengers shouting inside the plane’s smoke-filled cabin. They were running across the tarmac after escaping via an evacuation slide.
At one point, a child’s voice could be heard shouting: “Let us get out quickly! Let us get out quickly!”
Cresueing team evacuated all 367 passengers and 12 crew from the blazing airliner. But the fire kept burning until shortly after midnight.
This was after the fire had burnt for more than six hours, broadcaster TBS reported citing the fire department.
“I was wondering what happened and then I felt the aeroplane tilted to the side at the runway and felt a big bump,” said Satoshi Yamake, 59, a telecommunications company worker who was on board.
“The flight attendants told us to stay calm and instructed us to get off the plane.”
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Fourteen people on the passenger plane sustained injuries, according to Japan Airlines. But none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.
Transport Minister, Tetsuo Saito, confirmed that five of the Coast Guard aircraft’s crew had died. Saito added that 39-year-old captain of the plane, escaped but sustained injuries.
A ministry official told a press briefing the JAL plane was attempting to land normally when it collided with the Coast Guard’s Bombardier-built Dash-8 maritime patrol plane on the runway.
There had been no reports of engine or other problems on the airliner before the landing, the official said.
The Coast Guard said its plane was headed to Niigata on Japan’s west coast to deliver aid to those caught up in a powerful earthquake.
The quake struck on New Year’s Day, killing at least 55 people.
A JAL official told a press briefing it was the airline’s understanding that the flight had received permission to land. Although, he added, exchanges with flight control were still under investigation. (Reuters)
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