A Japan Airlines A350 passenger aircraft went up in flames at Haneda Airport after a collision with a coast guard plane. All 379 passengers and crew on board were evacuated safely onto the tarmac with inflatable slides.
JAL Flight 516 departed from New Chitose airport in Sapporo at 4PM local time (3PM SGT) and was scheduled to land at Haneda at 5:40PM. Haneda is Tokyo’s international airport and one of the busiest in the world.
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The coast guard plane is believed to have been heading to Niigata Airport base to deliver aid to the Noto Peninsula, which experienced a devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake on New Year’s Day that killed at least 48 and injured many more.
The captain of the coast guard plane managed to escape, but his other 5 crew members have yet to be accounted for.
(UPDATE 8.35PM, 2/1/2023: The 5 other crew members have been reported dead, while the captain is severely injured.)
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In television footage released by NHK, a Japanese public broadcaster, the passenger plane can be seen rolling down the runaway engulfed in a bright orange flame. Fire trucks can later be seen hosing down the plane, but it was no to avail as the aircraft was almost entirely destroyed by the fire.
Haneda has closed all runways to investigate and determine the extent of the damage.
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