Tokyo Haneda Airport in Japan witnessed an unfortunate event when a Japan Airlines passenger plane collided with a Japanese coast guard aircraft. Following the collision the plane carrying 379 passengers and 12 crew members caught fire. The passengers in the aircraft were safely evacuated. At the time of the incident, the Coast Guard plane was bound for the earthquake relief efforts, as per The New York Times’ report.
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The unfortunate incident claimed the lives of five crew members on the Coast Guard plane, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said during a conference. The Coast Guard aircraft was bound for the earthquake-affected area of Western Japan.
“They were filled with a determined sense of mission, and it is extremely regrettable and distressing what has happened to them,” The New York Times quotes the prime minister. He added, “I express my profound condolences to their surviving families.” The Japanese Prime Minister also ensured that the crash did not affect the relief efforts of the earthquake-affected areas which killed at least 498 people.
Japan Airlines Airbus A350 Fire: Watch Video
#WATCH | A Japan Airlines jet was engulfed in flames at Tokyo's Haneda airport after a possible collision with a Coast Guard aircraft, with the airline saying that all 379 passengers and crew had been safely evacuated: Reuters
(Source: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/fohKUjk8U9
— ANI (@ANI) January 2, 2024
Unverified videos showing footage from social media showed an aircraft claimed to be a Japan Airlines plane streaking across the runway, which later buss into flame and black smoke can be seen rising behind and beneath the aircraft.
Meanwhile, people from the plane can be seen sliding down the inflatable emergency slide from the side of the aircraft while flames can be seen rising out of the fuselage. Multiple fire engines rushed towards the aircraft to control the fire and sprayed water on the fuselage. However, they failed to douse the flames coming out of the windows near the wings.
The Japan Airline Aircraft, which was an Airbus 350, had come from the New Chitose Airport, which serves Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido in the north. There were eight kids aboard the plane. The Coast Guard plane in the incident has been identified as a fixed-wing MA722.
The Swedish daily Aftonbladet quotes a passenger, Anton Deibe, saying, t “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes” following the crash, according to the Associated Press. He added, “We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them.”
Director general of the transport ministry’s civil aviation bureau Shigenori Hiraoka stated he was unable to confirm details regarding the accident or communications between the two planes and the air traffic control tower during a late-night press briefing on Tuesday.
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