Up in flames: The Japan Airlines plane on fire at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. — AFP
A passenger plane collided with a Japanese coast guard aircraft and burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, officials said.
NHK TV reported that all passengers of Japan Airlines flight JAL-516, believed to total 379 people, got out safely before the plane was entirely engulfed in flames.
The Japanese coast guard said the pilot of its plane had escaped but five crew members are missing.
Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway.
The area around the wing then caught fire. Footage an hour later showed the plane fully on fire.
NHK TV said the plane was an Airbus A-350 that had flown from Shin Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo, to Haneda.
Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the passenger plane and its flight MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8.
It was not immediately known if the pilot who managed to escape was injured, or if the five crew members were trapped inside the aircraft, Yanagisawa said.
Kyodo News agency reported that the five were later found, but their conditions were not immediately known.
Swede Anton Deibe, 17, who was a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes. We threw ourselves on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them.
“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 Deibe, who was travelling with his parents and sister.
Kyodo said the coast guard plane, which is based at Haneda, had been due to head to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents affected by a deadly earthquake in the region on Monday.
Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays. — AFP
