Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter |
All 379 passengers and 12 crew members boarded in Japan’s Airplane A350 escaped from a fire that erupted after it collided with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday.
Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the Japan Airlines (9201.T) Airbus (AIR.PA) A350 bursting into flames as it skidded down the tarmac shortly before 6 p.m. (0900 GMT).
The collision involved one of its planes that was headed to Niigata airport on Japan's west coast to deliver aid to those caught up in a powerful earthquake that struck on New Year's Day, killing at least 48 people,” said the Coast Guard spokesperson.
“Five out of the six crew members of the coast guard aircraft are died, while the captain, a Bombardier-built Dash-8 maritime patrol plane, was injured” confirmed by Japan's Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito.
Miraculously, all 367 passengers and 12 crew were evacuated.
Transport minister Saito said the cause of the accident was unclear and the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), police and other departments must continue to investigate the reason. The collision occurred shortly after landing.
"The transport ministry will attempt to resume the operations of Haneda airport as soon as possible," Saito added.
Footage and images shared on social media showed passengers shouting inside the smoke-filled cabin and running across the tarmac away from an evacuation slide.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant agencies to coordinate to assess the damage swiftly and provide information to the public, according to his office.
Haneda has closed all runways following the incident.
Japan has not suffered a serious commercial aviation accident in decades and it’s a great shock for Japan at the start of the New Year.
