Two aircraft collide in Japan- five dead

JAPAN AIR BOEING 787-8 JA838J (MSN 34849)

JAL flight 516, an Airbus A350-900, travelling from Sapporo-New Chitose Airport (CTS/RJCC) to Tokyo-Haneda Airport (HND/RJTT) was engulfed in flames soon after landing as it struck the smaller coastguard aircraft, which was waiting to depart.

All crew and passengers onboard the Japan Airlines managed to make what can only be described as a “miracle” escape after a horrific collision on a runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo that killed five crew members of a coastguard plane it collided with.

Once the captain of the commercial jet managed to bring the burning aircraft to a stop, its 379 passengers, including eight children, plus 12 crew fled the plane’s smoke-filled cabin by sliding down inflatable slides at its front.

The jet was soon entirely overcome by fire, with flames seen licking out of the cabin’s windows. The Tokyo fire department said 14 of those evacuated from the passenger plane suffered minor injuries including burns to the throat. Four were taken to hospital.

Sadly, five of the six people onboard the coastguard plane, a De Havilland Canada DHC-8, were killed in the collision but its captain managed to escape the inferno with injuries.

The Dash 8, which was on its way to transport supplies to Niigata in response to the Noto Peninsula earthquake, had taxied onto runway 34R via taxiway C5 as JL516 was on final approach.
After touching down, the A350 struck the DHC-8. The nose section of the A350 suffered severe damage and a fire erupted in both aircraft.

A former commercial pilot said: “I think first of all, you’ve got to say that we just witnessed a miracle. The way they got all those passengers off that aeroplane is almost beyond belief.”

Passengers on the Japan Airlines jet, which had arrived at about 5.47pm local time from New Chitose airport on the northern island of Hokkaido, spoke of their terror after hearing the thud of the initial impact.

Social media footage from within the cabin showed how passengers could see the flames at the back exterior of the plane through the cabin windows as it continued down the runway immediately after the collision.

Investigations are still under way, but what is clear is the passenger jet was “understood to have been cleared to land by ATC”

This is the first hull loss of an Airbus A350

The first accident for Japan Air in 39 years

The first hull loss at Tokyo's Haneda in 42 years 

Aircraft Information

Airline: Japan Airlines

Code: JL/JAL

Flight Number: JL516

Aircraft: Airbus A350-941

Registration: JA13XJ

Serial Number: 538

Engines: 2 x RR Trent XWB

First Flew: 20/09/2021

Age: 1.3Yrs

Aircraft Information

Airline: Japan Air Coast Guard

Code: JCG

Aircraft: de Havilland Canada DHC-8-315Q MPA

Registration: JA722A

Serial Number: 656

Engines: 2 x PWC PW123E

First Flew: January 2010

Age: 14 Years

OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH THE FAMILIES, FRIENDS AND STAFF AT THE JAPAN COAST GUARD