Doomed Japan plane on third quake mission when runway disaster hit

An aerial view shows burnt Japan Coast Guard aircraft after a collision with Japan Airlines' (JAL) Airbus A350 plane at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan January 3, 2024, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS / File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) -A Coast Guard plane was making its third emergency trip to an earthquake zone within 24 hours when it collided with a passenger jet at a very busy Haneda airport, a Coast Guard official told Reuters.

The official declined to be named due to an ongoing investigation into the runway crash between the De Havilland Dash-8 turboprop and a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 passenger jet. Five of the six Coast Guard crew died but all 379 people on the JAL plane escaped.