5 killed at Tokyo’s Haneda airport as coastguard aircraft hits Japan Airlines plane in fiery collision
- All 379 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines plane escaped from a fire following the collision with a coastguard aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport
- But five of the six crew members from the smaller coastguard plane – bound for central Japan after Monday’s huge earthquake – died
Five people aboard a Japan Coast Guard aircraft died on Tuesday when it hit a Japan Airlines passenger plane on the ground in a fiery collision at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
All 379 passengers and 12 crew on board the passenger plane, which burst into flames, were safely evacuated, Japanese transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters.
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Japan Airlines flight catches fire after apparent collision with another plane at Haneda airport
The captain escaped and survived but was injured, he said, cautioning that “we’re not at the stage to explain the cause” of the accident.
Television and unverified footage shared on social media showed the Japan Airlines (JAL) airliner moving along the runway before a large eruption of orange flames and black smoke burst from beneath and behind it.
Video posted to social media platform X showed people sliding down an inflatable emergency slide from the side of the passenger plane, while flames shot out from the rear of the aircraft.
Keith Mackey, an international aviation safety consultant based in Florida, said an investigation will determine how the coastguard plane was able to be on the runway at the same time.