Japan Airlines plane crash kills 5 coast guard crew, as 367 passengers escape

TOKYO — A fiery collision Tuesday between a Japan Airlines passenger jet and a coast guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport killed five coast guard crew members, but all 367 passengers and 12 crew of the commercial jet escaped shortly before it became engulfed, officials said.

The pilot of the coast guard aircraft MA722 was in critical condition, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Fourteen people on the commercial aircraft were injured, Tokyo’s fire department said.

Video footage published by Reuters shows the passenger jet, an Airbus A350, moving along the runway before coming to a standstill, in flames. Rescuers can be seen extinguishing the fire.

The flight was arriving in Tokyo from Sapporo, in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido, a popular tourist destination.

The passenger jet had just touched down when it “crashed directly into” the coast guard plane, Shigenori Hiraoka, head of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau, said at a news conference Tuesday evening. “We still need to confirm the details of the interaction with air traffic control concerning the cause of the accident,” he said.

JAL managing executive officer Noriyuki Aoki told reporters at a news conference that the flight had received permission to land but that exchanges between the cockpit and flight control were under investigation.

Airline officials think the pilot may not have spotted the coast guard plane and therefore did not report abnormalities or problems before landing, but the matter is under investigation, Aoki said.

The passenger plane landed at 5:46 p.m., and all 379 aboard were evacuated by 6:05 p.m., Aoki said.

At 5:55 p.m., the coast guard pilot reported to the base that there was an explosion on the runway. The pilot was able to escape the aircraft but was unsure about the other crew members on board, coast guard officials said in a news briefing. The pilot suffered severe burns, police said.

Tsubasa Sawada, a 28-year-old passenger, told Reuters that he heard an explosion about 10 minutes after he and the other passengers evacuated the plane. “I can only say it was a miracle; we could have died if we were late,” he said.

Footage from Jan. 2 captured the moment a Japan Airlines jet was engulfed in flames at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. (Video: Reuters)

The coast guard plane was heading to Niigata Airport in western Japan to bring aid to communities devastated by a powerful earthquake that struck the area Monday, according to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Ishikawa killed at least 48 people and left scores more injured or missing, causing widespread damage and sparking a tsunami warning Monday.

All departing flights from Haneda Airport — closer to Tokyo and busier than the city’s other major airport, Narita — were suspended for the rest of the evening. The departure area was filled with travelers waiting to reschedule flights, with long lines at restaurants and waiting areas.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a statement posted on social media that he was grateful for the work of first responders and offered his condolences for the five coast guard crew members who were killed, thanking them for their “strong sense of mission and responsibility.”

Airbus said in a statement that it was dispatching a team of specialists to assist in the investigation.

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