Fiery Japan Airlines Collision Leaves Five Dead, Others Injured
Passengers aboard a Japan Airlines flight from Sapporo to Tokyo escaped a deadly situation just moments after landing at the capital’s Haneda Airport on Jan. 2. The Airbus A350 carrying 367 passengers and 12 crew members collided with a Japanese coast guard plane on the runway and became engulfed in flames as it taxied toward the gate. All the passengers and crew escaped safely, but five coast guard members didn’t survive the fiery encounter.
The coast guard plane was bound for Niigata Airport in western Japan to deliver much-needed aid to the area that was struck by an earthquake on Jan. 1. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida honored them for their service and mourned their deaths in a news conference following the incident.
“They were filled with a determined sense of mission, and it is extremely regrettable and distressing what has happened to them,” he said, per The New York Times. “I express my profound condolences to their surviving families.”
BREAKING: Japan Airlines plane with 367 people on board collides with Coast Guard plane at Tokyo Airport pic.twitter.com/ANheXFC2Ny
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 2, 2024
Harrowing passenger video from inside the Japan Airlines plane showed just how serious the situation was in the immediate aftermath of the crash. When safety testing new aircraft, airlines are generally required to show they can evacuate an entire plane in under 90 seconds in case of an emergency like this. The fact that all the passengers and crew made it out alive with only 17 people injured is a testament to their quick thinking and fast action in the moment.
A real situation showing the #JapanAirlines flight which engulfed in firepic.twitter.com/qk4J7fRZK8
— Varun Rayen (@varunrayen) January 2, 2024
#BREAKING: Airbus A350 crash-lands in Tokyo. More than 360 people manage to escape the burning plane. Two videos caught the horror as it happened. Would you keep your calm in a situation such as this? WATCH! #Japan #JapanAirlines pic.twitter.com/Ln4pDeLD9U
— Online Shogun (@online_shogun) January 2, 2024
All flights leaving from Haneda Airport have been suspended until Jan. 3. Details around how the collision happened in the first place are forthcoming.
