5 dead after planes collide on runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport

A large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames,killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said.

Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed that all 379 occupants of Japan Airlines Flight 516 got out safely before the plane was entirely engulfed in flames. The pilot of the coast guard plane escaped with injuries.

Public broadcaster NHK, citing the Tokyo Fire Department, said at least 17 ofthe people evacuated from the passenger plane were injured.

"I felt a boom like we had hit something and jerked upwardthe moment we landed," a passenger on the Japan Airlines flighttold Kyodo news agency. "I saw sparks outside the window and thecabin filled with gas and smoke."

WATCH |Planes burn after runway collision:

Japan Airlines jet catches fire after Tokyo runway collision

9 months ago

Duration 2:09

Two planes collided on a busy Tokyo airport runway producing a fireball and killing five people on the smaller plane, which was on its way to deliver relief to victims of the recent earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Eruption of fire and smoke

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.

Tuesday's accident was the first time that an Airbus A350, among the industry's newest large passenger planes, was severely damaged. It entered commercial service in 2015. In a statement, Airbus said it was sending specialists to help Japanese and French authorities and that the plane was delivered to Japan Airlines in late 2021.

The A350 had flown from Shin Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo, to Haneda, the transport minister said. It was attempting to land normally when it collided with thecoast guard's Bombardier-built Dash-8 maritime patrol plane onthe runway.

JALmanaging executive officer Tadayuki Tsutsumi told a news conference late Tuesday that the A350 was making a "normal entry and landing" on the runway, without specifying how it collided with the coast guard plane. Noriyuki Aoki, also a managing executive officer at JAL, said that the airline's understanding is that the JAL flight had received permission to land from aviation control officials.

Police are expected to investigate the accident on suspicion of professional negligence, NHK television reported.

Coast guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the passenger plane and its flight MA 722, a Bombardier Dash-8.The 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.The turboprop Dash-8 is widely used on short-haul and commuter flights.

Communications will be investigated

The coast guard pilot reported to his base that his aircraft exploded after colliding with the commercial plane, Vice-Commander Yoshio Seguchi told reporters.

Shigenori Hiraoka, head of the Transport Ministry Civil Aviation Bureau, said the collision occurred when the JAL plane landed on one of Haneda's four runways where the coast guard aircraft was preparing to take off. Transport safety officials were analyzing communication between aviation control officials and the two aircraft and planned to interview JAL officials to determine what led to the collision.

Hiraoka praised JAL for "taking appropriate procedures" to safely evacuate all passengers and crew members.

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 travelling with his parents and sister.

Kaoru Ishii, a mother who was waiting outside the arrivalgate for her 29-year-old daughter and boyfriend coming back onthe flight, said she initially though the flight was delayeduntil her daughter called to explain.

"She said the plane had caught fire and she exited via aslide," Ishii said. "I was really relieved that she wasalright."

Saito said Haneda is currently closed while the collision is under investigation by aviation safety investigators and police, but that they are doing their best to reopen the airport Wednesday or even sooner.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said authorities were workingto ensure the accident at Haneda did not affect deliveries of earthquake relief supplies.

"This is a great regret as the crew members performed theirduties with a strong sense of mission and responsibility for thevictims of the disaster area," he said, referring to thosekilled on the coast guard plane.

Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.