Five people aboard a coastguard aircraft were killed when their plane collided with a Japan Airlines passenger jet coming in to land at Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, with only one crewmember managing to escape with severe injuries.
Coastguard flight MA-722 aircraft, a Bombardier Dash-8, was struck by JAL flight 516 - a much larger Airbus A-350 - on runway C at Haneda, with both planes immediately erupting into flames.
Shocking footage showed the Japan Airlines jet engulfed in a raging inferno as it sat on the runway with gouts of flame seen pouring out of the passenger windows.
One horrific clip showed the flames licking from the airliner's main cabin door as twisted bits of metal fell from the fuselage onto the tarmac, while another showed passengers sprinting along the runway to escape the blaze, running away from the engines which were spitting out chunks of flaming debris.
Images from the scene showed how the passenger escape slide protruding from one of the airliner's doors was set ablaze as more flames burned within the cabin, and the aircraft's hull later split in two as the fire melted through huge chunks of its bodywork.
Miraculously, all 379 passengers and crew aboard the Japan Airlines flight were successfully evacuated from the stricken plane, a JAL spokesman said, but most of the crew in the much smaller Bombardier did not survive the crash.
The Jiji news agency reported the coastguard plane was set to leave to help with rescue efforts following a massive earthquake in central Japan on New Year's Day, with the five deaths of the crewmembers further compounding the tragedy.
Japanese transport minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters the captain of the coastguard aircraft escaped and survived but was injured, cautioning that 'we're not at the stage to explain the cause' of the accident.
The Japan Airlines flight had flown out of Shin Chitose airport in Japan and was landing at Haneda airport when the disaster occurred.
Japan Airlines Flight 516 plane in flames at Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. The airplane collided with a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) aircraft on arrival at Haneda Airport. All 379 passengers and crews of JAL airplane have been evacuated from the airplane while 5 members of JCG are unaccounted for
In this image made from video, a Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda airport on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan
A large airliner carrying 367 passengers exploded today at an airport near Tokyo after colliding with a coastguard plane as it came into land, Japanese media reported
Japan Airlines Flight 516 plane in flames at Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024
Firefighters perform a rescue operation on a Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024
Passengers are seen fleeing the aircraft using the evacuation slide from the front cabin door before it set ablaze. The engine is seen burning mere feet away
Fire trucks descend on the plane as people evacuate via the slides
A Japanese Airlines plane caught fire at Tokyo's Haneda Airport after colliding with a coastguard aircraft
Shocking footage showed the Japan Airlines jet engulfed in a raging inferno as it sat on the runway at Haneda Airport, in Ota City, Tokyo, with gouts of flame seen pouring out of the passenger windows
Japan Airlines Flight 516 plane in flames at Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan
The evacuation ramp is engulfed in flames
In this image made from video, a Japan Airlines plane is seen on fire on the runway of Haneda airport on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan
A brutal blaze quickly spread throughout the plane
Smouldering debris can be seen falling from the fuselage onto the tarmac
Footage taken aboard another plane shows the inferno below
A Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)
Terrifying footage from inside the plane shows how passengers covered their faces and struggled to breathe as the cabin filled with smoke following the fire
The Japanese Airlines flight had flown out of Shin Chitose airport in Japan and was landing at Haneda airport when the disaster occurred
Several experts described the evacuation of the passenger plane as 'phenomenal' and 'a miracle'.
Prof Graham Braithwaite, director of transport systems at Cranfield University in the UK, told BBC: 'The evacuation has been successful and it is a reminder how much has gone into training cabin crew.
'Their focus is on safety. They are the last people to evacuate the airplane and on face value, it looks like they have done an incredible job.'
A coast guard official at Haneda Airport, one of the world's busiest, said they were 'checking details' of the reported collision and initially could not confirm what had happened.
'It's not clear if there was a collision. But it is certain that our plane is involved,' he told AFP.
But spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima later told Japanese media that their plane did indeed collide with the JAL flight on the runway.
NHK reported that one member of the crew from the coastguard plane escape.
The remaining five were unaccounted for, but police later confirmed they had been killed.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida praised the deceased crew members on their way to help the victims of the quake.
'These were employees who had a high sense of mission and responsibility for the affected areas. It's very regrettable,' he told reporters.
'I express my respect and gratitude to their sense of mission,' Kishida said.
Japan Airlines said the passenger plane either collided with the other aircraft on a runway or a taxiway after it touched down, Kyodo reported.
Television footage showed flames coming out of windows and the plane's nose on the ground as rescue workers sprayed it with several water hoses. There was also burning debris on the runway.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said it was probing the incident, Kyodo added.
More than 70 fire engines were being deployed to the scene to extinguish the raging inferno, NHK reported.
Wide angle images of the scene showed a large section of the runway covered in flames, with debris littering huge swathes of the tarmac.
Meanwhile, footage taken from inside the jet showed how the cabin filled with thick smoke.
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 down 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 traveling with his parents and sister.
Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays. All its runways were closed following the accident, causing dozens of other planes to divert.
Japan has not suffered a serious commercial aviation accident in decades.
Its worst ever was in 1985, when a JAL jumbo jet flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashed in central Gunma region, killing 520 passengers and crew.
That disaster was one of the world's deadliest plane crashes involving a single flight.
The terrifying incident at Haneda airport comes just one day after a brutal 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated huge swathes of Japan's west coast, killing dozens of people and levelling tens of thousands of homes.
Firefighters work at Haneda International Airport after Japan Airlines' A350 airplane caught on fire, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024
This photo provided by Jiji Press shows firefighters attempting to extinguish a fire on a Japan Airlines plane on a runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024.
A fire fighting vehicle attempts to extinguish fire of Japan Airlines 516 plane at Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan
Firefighters work on a burning Japan Airlines' A350 airplane at Haneda International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024
Firefighters rushed to the scene to extinguish the flames
Firefighters work on a burning Japan Airlines' A350 airplane at Haneda International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024.
The blaze lit up the night sky at Haneda airport
Both the passenger plane and the coastguard plane caught alight amid the collision
An image taken within the airport terminal shows the fire outside on the runway
The runway is seen ablaze in this picture
A huge inferno is seen engulfing the plane in this footage
Travellers look on in shock and despair as the plane burns on the runway
Forty-eight people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa, the prefecture worst hit by the tremblor, officials said on Tuesday afternoon, while damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed.
The savage incident sparked a wave of panic buying across Japan, as residents lucky enough to have avoided the devastation sought to stock up on essentials even as aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa and nearby areas a day after the 7.6 magnitude quake slammed the area on Monday afternoon.
One building, believed to be a seven-storey block, was seen lying on its side while a temple in Suzu City is said to have been completely destroyed. Shocking images show how even houses specially designed to withstand earthquakes were flattened, with abandoned cars tossed about and engulfed by huge crevices in the road.
A major search and rescue operation continued into Tuesday, with Japan's Prime Minister saying that rescue efforts had been made 'extremely difficult due to damage to roads' in the Ishikawa prefecture, near the epicentre of the quake.
But fears are growing that time is running out to find survivors trapped beneath the surface. The main highway through the district was completely closed, according to reports.
Water, power and phone service remains down across Ishikawa and beyond, and residents expressed sorrow about their destroyed homes and uncertain futures.
The government said it was still assessing the extent of damage from the quake, which shook apartments in the capital Tokyo some 300 kilometres (190 miles) away from the epicentre.
More than 51,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes, with impromptu shelters set up in the worst hit areas. More than 1,000 people were staying at a military base, the defence ministry said.
The fact that they got all the passengers from the...
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