Tokyo Japan - On Tuesday, a Japan Airlines plane carrying hundreds of passengers collided with an earthquake relief aircraft and burst into flames on landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. The Airbus A350-900 aircraft ignited after flying into Haneda from the northern Japanese city of Sapporo at 5:46 p.m. local time (3:46 a.m. ET). Video footage showed a huge fireball erupt as the plane ignited, leaving a fiery trail down the runway.
Fatalities and Evacuation
Five people were killed in the accident, all of whom were crew members on the second aircraft, a De Havilland Canada DHC-8, according to Japan’s transport minister, Tetsuo Saito. Public broadcaster NHK reported that the plane’s captain was in a critical condition. All 379 people on JAL flight 516, including eight children under the age of two, were safely evacuated from the passenger plane, according to the airline.
Investigation
Japan Airlines is taking part in the investigation to determine who is responsible for the deadly crash, its Senior Vice President of Corporate Safety and Security Tadayuki Tsutsumi told reporters. While that investigation is ongoing, preliminary reports suggest that the pilots of the Japan Airlines flight did not spot any aircraft on the runway before landing. The Japan Airlines flight was confirmed to have “entered the runway as normal and began landing as normal and that there was an impact, which led to the accident, but we are still investigating further details,” he said.
The incident has raised concerns about the safety of air travel in Japan. Japan Airlines has promised to cooperate fully with the investigation and to take steps to ensure that such accidents do not happen again. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.
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