TOKYO—On Tuesday, a Japanese coast guard aircraft and a passenger airliner crashed on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, igniting a fire.
Before the entire aircraft was consumed by fire, Tetsuo Saito, the minister of transportation, verified that all 379 passengers aboard Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 had safely evacuated. Five crew members perished, but the coast guard plane's pilot managed to escape, according to Mr. Saito.
A significant fire and smoke explosion was seen on local TV footage of the Japan Airlines aircraft as it taxied after landing. Then there was a fire in the vicinity of the wing. An hour later, footage revealed the airliner completely on fire.
According to the transport minister, the JAL aircraft was an Airbus A-350 that had taken off from Shin Chitose airport, which is close to Sapporo, and flew to Haneda.
According to Coast Guard spokesman Yoshinori Yanagishima, the aircraft was a Bombardier Dash-8, registered as MA-722. The aircraft, which is located at Haneda, was scheduled to travel to Niigata to provide aid to locals impacted by Monday's devastating earthquake, which left at least 48 people dead.
The entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes, as reported by 17-year-old Anton Deibe of Sweden, who was a passenger on the Japan Airlines aircraft, to the Swedish daily Aftonbladet. We fell to the ground with great abandon. We hurled ourselves at the emergency doors as soon as they were opened.
“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 Swede, who was traveling with his parents and sister.
According to Mr. Saito, Haneda is closed at the moment while police and aviation safety authorities look into the crash. However, they are working hard to have the airport operational again by Wednesday or maybe earlier.
He said that the aforementioned officials are making every effort to avoid any delays in the delivery of relief supplies and other activities to the area affected by the tragedy.
One of Japan's biggest airports, Haneda sees a lot of traffic over the New Year's holiday.
