Tokyo: Japan Airlines in Flame After Runway Collision
Tragic collision in Tokyo involving a Japan Airlines flight and an earthquake relief aircraft results in injuries, fatalities, and airport shutdown for investigations.
The year 2024 is not shaping well for our Japanese friends so far. After the 7.6 magnitude earthquake of 1st January 2024, another tragedy followed in Japan. Japan Airlines’ flight JAL 516 carrying hundreds of passengers collided with an earthquake relief aircraft and burst into flames while landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on 2nd January 2024 around 5:45 pm local time. The earthquake relief aircraft was headed to Tokyo to deliver relief efforts to the earthquake victims. A big blaze broke out in the Japan Airlines’ flight after the collision. Eyewitnesses saw the plane come to a standstill & people using emergency slides to exit the burning plane. More than 70 fire trucks were dispatched in response to the accident and hundreds of firefighters tried to battle the growing flames. Take off & landing of all the other flights were immediately stopped. All the on-ground flights were evacuated as the standard safety protocol. According to the reports, all 379 people, including eight children under the age of two, were safely evacuated from the Japan Airlines flight (passenger flight) in less than 20 minutes. But 5 crew members died in the earthquake relief aircraft which was being operated by the Japan Coast Guard. Currently, all flights to & from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport have been canceled & all runways have been shut down until further notice. Several photos & videos of the Japan Airlines flight burning up in flames and leaving a fiery trail down the runway are being circulated on news channels and social media. 14 passengers & crew members (combined) were injured in the accident. Japan’s Corporate Safety and Security’s senior vice president Tadayuki Tsutsumi announced that a special investigation team is being formed to determine the cause of this deadly crash. Japan Airlines announced that its crew had been cleared to land by air traffic control before the collision. A senior Japan Airlines’ spokesperson said “According to interviews with the operating crew, they acknowledged and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control, and then proceeded with the approach and landing procedures”. TOKYO Police will investigate whether a crash between an airliner and a smaller plane at a Tokyo airport may involve professional negligence. Japan Airlines said that the aircraft recognised and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control before approaching and touching down. The plane was cleared to land at 17:45 local time, minutes before authorities say the collision occurred. The Coast Guard has declined to comment on the exact circumstances surrounding the crash, including why the plane was on the runway and whether it was stationary or moving when disaster struck.
