• Thursday, 04 July 2024
Japan Airlines jet bursts into flames after collision at Tokyo Haneda airport

Japan Airlines jet bursts into flames after collision at Tokyo Haneda airport

A Japan Airlines plane was in flames as it landed on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday evening.

Footage on broadcaster NHK showed flames coming out of the windows of the aircraft and beneath it. The runway was also set alight.

The plane, which had taken off from Sapporo, collided with a coast guard plane, NHK said, citing authorities.

"We are currently assessing the extent of the damage," the airline said, according to an NHK report.

The plane, Japan Airlines Flight 516, departed from New Chitose airport at 16:00 local time (07:00 GMT) and was scheduled to land at Haneda at 17:40.

The TV footage shows multiple fire trucks at the scene as smoke and flames billow from the plane.

All crew members and 379 passengers, including eight children under the age of two, were safely evacuated from the passenger plane, according to the airline.

JAL is investigating the details and cause of the plane fire, a representative for the airline told CNN.

Footage showed the passenger jet moving and then igniting with a large fireball. The plane was then seen at a standstill with people using emergency slides to flee the inferno as firefighters tried to battle the growing flames.

The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) has confirmed to CNN that one of its aircraft, likely a fixed-wing MA722, collided with commercial flight 516 on the runway.

One person on the Coast Guard plane escaped, but five are unaccounted for.

A JCG spokesman told CNN that the JCG aircraft was headed from Haneda airport to a JCG airbase in Niigata prefecture to help with relief efforts following a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Monday.

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