TOKYO — A passenger aircraft and a Japanese coast guard plane collided on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames.
Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed that each one 379 occupants of Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 received out safely earlier than the aircraft was fully engulfed in flames. The pilot of the coast guard aircraft additionally escaped, however 5 crewmembers died, Saito stated.
Local TV video confirmed a big eruption of fireside and smoke from the aspect of the Japan Airlines aircraft because it taxied after touchdown. The space across the wing then caught fireplace. Footage an hour later confirmed the aircraft totally on fireplace.
The JAL aircraft was an Airbus A-350 that had flown from Shin Chitose airport, close to town of Sapporo, to Haneda, the transport minister stated.
Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima stated its aircraft was MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8. The aircraft, which relies at Haneda, had been on account of head to Niigata to ship aid items to residents affected by a lethal earthquake within the area on Monday that killed not less than 48 individuals.
Swede Anton Deibe, 17, who was a passenger on the Japan Airlines aircraft, informed Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that “all the cabin was stuffed with smoke inside a couple of minutes. We threw ourselves down on the ground. Then the emergency doorways have been opened and we threw ourselves at them.
“The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell. We have no idea where we are going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos,” added Deibe, who was touring together with his mother and father and sister.
Saito stated Haneda is at the moment closed whereas the collision is underneath investigation by aviation security investigators and police, however that they’re doing their finest to reopen the airport Wednesday and even sooner.
He added that stated officers are doing their utmost to forestall any delays within the aid items supply and different operations for the disaster-hit area.
Haneda is among the busiest airports in Japan, and many individuals journey over the New Year holidays.
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Yamaguchi reported from Kyoto, Japan. Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”