A Japanese Airlines passenger jet burst into flames after colliding with a small coast guard airbus at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
According to police, all 379 passengers and crew on board evacuated safely. However, five of the six crew members on the smaller plane died in the crash.
After the passenger plane landed, it exploded, causing the runway to also be engulfed in flames. The plane had arrived from Sapporo, Hokkaido.
Fire rescue teams spent hours putting out the blaze.
Despite the fiery explosion, the crew was able to safely evacuate all passengers, a feat that garnered them praise from air safety experts.
Following the incident, Haneda Airport closed four of its runways, which caused disruptions for thousands of air passengers.
Japan Airlines Flight 516 had left New Chitose airport at approximately 16:00 local time and had arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport a little before 18:00.

According to one passenger, who spoke about their experience, they “felt a boom, like [they] had hit something” the moment they landed and saw “sparks outside the window”, after which the cabin filled with smoke and gas.
Fortunately, passengers were able to escape the firey airplane via the emergency doors, which opened up to an evacuation slide. They were then able to run to safety.
In total, four passengers were taken to the local hospital, with the worst injury being significant bruising. The captain of the plane was also injured.
According to officials, the flight crew had no issues prior to landing. The exact cause of the collision is also unclear, though, the coastguard has announced they are investigating how the two planes came into contact with each other on the runway.
On Wednesday, Tetsuo Saito, The Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism in Japan (JTBS), told reporters in a press conference that their next step will be listening to the audio recording between the flight control tower and the pilot.
While they have already retrieved the voice and flight recorders of the smaller coastguard plane, however, they have yet to find that for the JAL airliner.
A JTBS official told media outlets that the controller at the flight control tower had cleared the JAL passenger plane to land on runway C and had told the coastguard airbus to ‘hold point’.
Guy Maestre, who was visiting Japan from the United States, was sitting in an airplane adjacent to JAL 516 on the runway when he heard a ‘big bang.’ As soon as he looked out the windows, he saw a ‘huge trail of flames running down the runway’.
Despite the horrific images that were broadcast of the fiery collision, several passengers reported that those inside the airliner were not panicking and that they were told to evacuate the plane after landing.
Some passengers noticed fire coming out from the engines, which many thought to be odd The smell of smoke then came into the cabin, which confirmed the presence of an emergency.
With the pilot and crew’s help, however, all passengers were able to safely get out of the plane, which exploded 10 minutes after everyone had evacuated. The fact that everyone on the plane evacuated without reaching for their carry-on bags also saved valuable time, which likely saved lives.