Miraculous escape: How 379 people fled Japan Airlines plane before flames engulfed it

The start of the new year has not been kind to Japan. After a series of quakes a day back, the island nation saw a deadly collision between two aircraft on Tuesday (2 January). At least five people died after a passenger plane reportedly collided with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. The Japan Airlines flight erupted in flames after the collision with a Japan Coast Guard plane. While all 379 passengers and crew of the passenger jet were safely evacuated, five of the six members of the Coast Guard died. The sixth member, the captain, has escaped. Let’s take a closer look at the story. 379 people escape Japan plane fire According to Japan Airlines, all 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Airbus A350 escaped without injuries. Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the plane had taken off from Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport, with the collision occurring after the flight landed on runway C at Haneda airport. Footage from NHK showed plumes of orange fire and black smoke covering the Japan Airlines flight as it landed at Haneda airport in Tokyo, reported NBC News. A large fire broke out from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area near the wing then caught fire and an hour later the entire plane was engulfed in flames, as per Associated Press (AP). At least 70 fire trucks were pressed into service to put out the flames, according to NHK. [caption id=“attachment_13568942” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Passengers watch from observation deck as Japan Airlines’ A350 airplane burns at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, 2 January 2024. Reuters[/caption] Haneda Airport, also known as Tokyo International Airport, is one of the busiest airports in Japan. Videos showed passengers fleeing the flight through an emergency chute. Swede Anton Deibe, 17, who was among the passengers 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," AP quoted Deibe as saying. Another passenger described the dreadful incident. “I felt a boom like we had hit something and jerked upward the moment we landed,” the passenger told Kyodo news agency. “I saw sparks outside the window and the cabin filled with gas and smoke.” What to know about the Japan Coast Guard plane As per Flight Radar 24, the incident took place at 5.47 pm local time (2:17 pm IST) as the Japan Airlines flight was landing. The coastguard plane was an MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8, AP reported citing Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima. The Japan Coast Guard did not have a modern ADS-B transponder, which can communicate the most accurate information about an aircraft’s position to ground controllers and to another flight, according to a Sky News report. The Coast Guard aircraft was going to fly to Niigata prefecture on Japan’s west coast with earthquake relief after a series of temblors hit the area on Monday, killing at least 48 and leaving a trail of destruction.

Japan’s transport minister Tetsuo Saito said the pilot, who is the only survivor of the ill-fated Coast Guard flight, was injured. He said the aviation safety investigators and police are investigating the incident, reported Sky News. While the Haneda Airport is shut, Saito said it could be reopened by Wednesday or even before. What exactly happened? It is hard to say right now. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, said it was still “very early” to understand what really happened. “As is often the case with such incidents, what it appears [to be the case] in the first couple of minutes and hours, can be very different to what actually happened, and what we learn later in the investigation process,” he added. [caption id=“attachment_13568952” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda airport on 2 January. Kyodo News via AP[/caption] According to initial information, the collision occurred due to a “runway incursion”, such as the Coast Guard aircraft entering the runway when it should not have been, former air traffic controller Michele Robson told Sky News. She said it is likely that the Japan Airlines plane did not know the Coast Guard aircraft was on the runway because of several factors, including less visibility. Robson said the lack of ADS-B transponder on the Coast Guard aircraft would have made it “less visible” if it was on the runway unexpectedly. The “split second timing” would have meant it “wouldn’t have taken more than a few seconds for the aircraft to get on the runway as the other plane was landing. At that point, with a large passenger jet, it probably wouldn’t have seen the smaller aircraft in the dark,” Sky News quoted her as saying. However, she said there “needs to be proper investigation” before drawing conclusions. With inputs from agencies