Around 400 passengers and crew safely evacuated the plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, but five people aboard a coast guard aircraft involved in the collision were killed, officials said.

A passenger plane burst into flames as it landed at a Tokyo airport Tuesday, after a collision with a coast guard aircraft that killed five people, officials said.

All 379 passengers and crew were able to make it out of the Japan Airlines plane, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said at a news conference. The coast guard pilot escaped but five crew members were killed, he added.

The coast guard aircraft was going to fly earthquake relief to Niigata prefecture on the country’s west coast after a series of strong tremors killed at least 48 people and left widespread damage, Saito said at a news conference. There was no immediate information about the cause of the incident, he said.

  • @[email protected]English
    41•6 months ago

    Last updated Jan 2, 11:20 UTC; this post is superseded here

    JAL flight 516 (registration JA13XJ) Airbus A350-900 from Sapporo to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport collided while landing with a coast guard aircraft JA722A De Havilland Canada DHC-8-315Q MPA “Dash-8” that belonged to Haneda Air Base, which was awaiting departure to Niigata with aid following the New Year’s Day Earthquake.

    The Washington Post reports:

    All 367 passengers and 12 crew members escaped the passenger plane, while five people on the coast guard plane were still unaccounted for, NHK reported.

    The pilot of the coast guard aircraft had evacuated and contacted officials.

    CNN reports that 17 passengers on board JAL516 were injured.

    A later press statement from Japan Airlines SVP Noriyuki Aoki clarified that “only four” passengers went to hospital for “feeling unwell,” of which two for smoke inhalation, while the pilots are now being interviewed about the final moments of the flight. Eight children were among the 367 passengers.

    Regarding JA722A, CNN reports:

    Five crew members died on the second aircraft, a De Havilland Canada DHC-8, according to Japan’s transport minister, Tetsuo Saito. Public broadcaster NHK said the plane’s captain was in a critical condition.

    Airbus has also issued a statement that a team of Airbus investigators are joining the French BEA and Japanese JTSB.

    My more detailed analysis is being maintained here.