Five dead after Japan plane collision

Five people aboard a Japan Coast Guard aircraft died on Tuesday (Jan 2) after a collision with a Japan Airlines passenger plane as the passenger plane touched down at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

All 379 passengers and crew of a Japan Airlines plane miraculously escaped from a fire that broke out after the collision, but local media said five of the Coast Guard plane six-member crew had died.

The Coast Guard said 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.

A Coast Guard spokesperson said the captain of the aircraft escaped.

Footage from the airfield outside the Haneda airport building appeared to show the Airbus jet colliding with the other aircraft just after touching down after dark, then skidding on in a trail of flames.

The JAL jet could be seen tilted forward with a collapsed front landing gear, flames licking from its windows and smoke billowing over the fuselage as fire services battled the blaze. 

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Later footage showed the entire aircraft entirely engulfed in a massive blaze, suggesting the plane is damaged beyond repair.

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.

“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.”

A spokesperson at Japan Airlines said its aircraft had departed from Shin-Chitose airport on the mountainous northern island of Hokkaido.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant agencies to coordinate to assess the damage swiftly and provide information to the public, said his office.

Haneda, one of Tokyo’s two main airports, has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson said.

Kaoru Ishii, a mother who was waiting outside the arrival gate for her 29-year-old daughter and boyfriend coming back on the flight, said she initially thought the flight was delayed until her daughter called to explain.

“She said the plane had caught fire, and she exited via a slide,” Ishii said. “I was really relieved that she was alright.” REUTERS, BLOOMBERG