All 379 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 escaped from a fire following a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday, but local media said most of the coast guard plane crew had died.
The Coast Guard said the collision involved one of its planes that was headed to Japan’s west coast to deliver aid to those caught up in the powerful earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day, killing at least 48 people.
Five of the six crew of the coast guard aircraft have died, the public broadcaster NHK reported.
Live video shown on the public broadcaster NHK showed the Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 aircraft bursting into flames as it skidded down the tarmac at around 6pm.
It was later overwhelmed by the blaze despite efforts by rescue crews to control the fire. However, all 367 passengers and 12 crew were evacuated.
Video and images shared on social media showed passengers shouting inside the smoke-filled cabin and running across the tarmac away from an evacuation slide.
“I felt a boom like we had hit something and jerked upward the moment we landed,” a passenger on the JAL flight told Kyodo news agency. “I saw sparks outside the window and the cabin filled with gas and smoke.”
The collision occurred shortly after landing.
Haneda, one of Tokyo’s two main airports, has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson said.
