The images shown by the Japanese broadcaster NHK show an inferno. Flames burst from the windows of a passenger jet, huge clouds of black smoke rose. Everything looks like a devastating aircraft disaster at Tokyo Haneda Airport this Tuesday.
What happened? At around 6 p.m. Japanese time, 10 a.m. in Germany, several Japanese media outlets unanimously report that a passenger plane collided with a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft on its approach to land.
On board the passenger plane – an Airbus A350 Japan Airlines said there were 367 passengers and twelve crew members. The plane came from Sapporo on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and took off there at around 4 p.m. local time. And then, the most important news: everyone on this plane survived the accident. NHK reported, citing the fire department, that there were at least 17 injured.
However, five people died on board the other, much smaller plane, one DHC-8also Dash8 called. The Coast Guard aircraft was crewed by six people. While the pilot was seriously injured and was freed from the wreckage, the other passengers could not be rescued, according to Japanese police. The crew’s mission: to bring material to the earthquake zone on the west coast of Japan.
All runways at Tokyo Haneda, the country’s largest airport, were closed after the accident. Dozens of fire engines were used in the rescue and extinguishing work.
There are live recordings that show the moment of the accident. You can see a plane that has touched down on the runway. Suddenly there is a huge fireball and the machine, which is now in flames, continues to roll. Another fire remains in the place where the fireball opened. TBS also released video footage showing the plane’s evacuation. The images show passengers exiting the plane via an emergency slide while the fire is extinguishing the fire.
Videos and images shared on internet platforms show passengers screaming in the smoke-filled cabin. A passenger told Kyodo News Agency what happened inside the plane: “I felt a bang, like we hit something. And the moment we landed, we were thrown up. I saw sparks outside the window, and the cabin filled with smoke.”
Dem Wall Street Journal A passenger said it was getting hotter and hotter in the cabin. “I honestly didn’t think I would make it,” she said. The fact that the passengers still made it is probably thanks to a well-coordinated evacuation operation. A spokesman for Japan Airlines said it took less than 20 minutes to get passengers and crew outside, according to the paper.
It is still completely unclear why the two planes collided. The Japanese Transport Ministry said there was no indication that the passenger plane had any technical problems. The air traffic control conversations in the tower with the pilots of the two planes would now be evaluated.