What we know so far about the Airbus inferno in Tokyo: Why was the Coast Guard plane on the runway?

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The images are terrifying: a Japan Airlines passenger plane catches fire upon landing. Videos and photos from social media show the combustion machine eventually breaking in two. There were 379 people on board. Japan’s busiest airport, Tokyo Haneda, is paralyzed.

Japan Airlines Flight 516 was en route from New Chitose to Haneda on Tuesday. At 5:47 p.m. local time (9:47 a.m. Swiss time), the Airbus A350 collided with a coast guard aircraft during landing. Japanese media report this. The Airbus’s front landing gear collapsed and both engines caught fire from the escaping kerosene. Live images from the NHK news portal showed that firefighting work started immediately. Haneda Airport closed all runways.

The Japanese Coast Guard confirmed that the passenger plane collided with a Coast Guard aircraft on the runway. According to the head of the Ministry of Transportation’s Civil Aviation Bureau, the Japan Airlines plane landed on one of the airport’s four runways where the Coast Guard plane was preparing to take off. This wanted to bring material to the earthquake zone on the west coast of Japan. There were strong warnings of earthquakes and tsunamis on Monday. Nearly fifty people died in this disaster.

According to Sky News, the coastguard aircraft is a 20-ton Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft. This is “not nearly as big as the A350,” an aviation expert explained to the broadcaster, but “big enough to carry a significant amount of fuel on board.”

Flight tracking site Flightradar 24 tells Sky News that the coastguard aircraft is a De Havilland Canada DHC-8-315Q MPA, also known as Dash-8, with registration number JA772A. The machine does not have modern ADS-B transponders. These are used to provide ground controllers and other aircraft with highly accurate information about an aircraft’s position.

Vice Commander Yoshio Seguchi said the Coast Guard pilot reported to his base that his plane had exploded after colliding with the passenger jet. Officials from the Transportation Safety Board are now analyzing communications between air traffic controllers and the two planes. The exact cause of the accident is still unclear.

Footage from inside the Airbus A350 showed screaming passengers covering their noses and mouths because of the smoke. Through the window you can see the runway – and the flames.

There were 367 passengers on board the plane, including eight children, and twelve crew members. As Kyodo news agency reports, all passengers and crew from the Japan Airlines flight have been evacuated. According to local police, 17 people were injured, but none suffered life-threatening injuries.

Initially, five of the six crew members were missing while the pilot rescued himself. A little later the sad certainty: the missing five of the six crew members died in the collision with the Airbus. The pilot’s life is also in danger. Japanese media report this, citing the police.

The five fatalities were identified by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. This concerns the 41-year-old vice-captain and four other crew members aged 27, 37, 39 and 56.

Dozens of emergency services with about a hundred fire trucks were on site to get the fire under control, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. Firefighting work on the Airbus is still ongoing. According to the television station, the coast guard plane also caught fire. However, it was removed after about four hours.

A 17-year-old passenger told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet: “Within a few minutes the entire cabin was filled with smoke.” Passengers threw themselves on the ground. “Then the emergency doors opened and we ran towards them. The smoke in the cabin burned like hell. It was hell. We had no idea where to go, so we just ran into the field. There was chaos.”

Another passenger told broadcaster NHK about an announcement: People were asked to calm down and leave the plane without luggage.

Tetsuo Saito, Japan’s Minister of Land, Transport and Infrastructure, informed about the current situation during a press conference on Tuesday. “We are doing our best to resume activities according to the normal schedule from tomorrow,” he said. The cause of the accident is still unknown.

Officials are currently trying to secure the disaster area and reopen the rest of the airport. Three runways have now been reopened. (gs)

Source: Blick