Five dead in Japan plane collision at Tokyo airport
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Five individuals aboard a Coast Guard aircraft lost their lives following a runway collision with a Japan Airlines plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, as reported by the country's transport minister.
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A plane at Toyko Airport collided with a passenger jet on January 2, 2024. (Social Media/X)
A tragic incident occurred at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday, where a Japan Coast Guard aircraft collided with a Japan Airlines passenger plane on the ground, resulting in the death of five individuals.
Fortunately, all 379 passengers and crew aboard the passenger plane, which erupted in flames, were safely evacuated, as confirmed by Japanese transport minister Tetsuo Saito.
However, Saito reported that five out of the six crew members from the smaller plane, which was en route to central Japan following Monday's significant earthquake, lost their lives in the tragic incident.
The captain escaped and survived but was injured, he said, cautioning that "we're not at the stage to explain the cause" of the accident.
Television and unverified footage circulated on social media depicted the Japan Airlines (JAL) airliner taxiing along the runway, followed by a significant eruption of orange flames and black smoke from beneath and behind it.
জাপানের আকাশ থেকে নামলো জ্বলন্ত প্লেন | Japan plane fire | BPN
— Business Prime News (@businessprime24) January 2, 2024
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.#businessprimenews #japanearthquake #japanplanefire #trendingnews #bengalibusinessnews #shortsvideo pic.twitter.com/hiTr9MvnEM
BREAKING: Tragedy Unfolds At #Haneda Airport As #Japan Airlines Plane Bursts Into Flames After Collision
— SAAD AHSAN (@SaadAhsan13) January 2, 2024
Haneda Airport🚒🧯🔥 pic.twitter.com/akkEkB4c5i
🇯🇵 Tragedy at Haneda Airport: 5 Japan Coast Guard personnel killed in collision with comercial plane.
— Tarciso Morais (@TarcisoRenova) January 2, 2024
🛬 5 membros da Guarda Costeira do Japão morreram depois que um avião da Japan Airlines colidiu com uma aeronave da corporação no aeroporto de Haneda, em Tóquio.#Japan #Tokyo https://t.co/1Wu0mFbKJI pic.twitter.com/6NAUIbSFAU
In videos shared on platform X, individuals were seen descending an inflatable emergency slide from the side of the passenger plane, all while flames erupted from the rear of the aircraft.
All 367 passengers along with the 12 crew members on board were promptly evacuated from the plane before numerous fire engines, marked by flashing blue lights, sprayed the fuselage. Despite their efforts, the flames emanating from windows near the wings proved challenging to extinguish, and the fire rapidly consumed the entire aircraft.
Read next: 'We have to race against time' after deadly Japan quake: PM Kishida
The plane, reportedly identified as an Airbus A350, had just landed at New Chitose Airport, which serves Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. Among the passengers on board were eight children.
"Smoke began to fill the plane, and I thought, 'this could be really bad'", an adult male passenger told reporters at the airport, adding that, "an announcement said doors in the back and middle could not be opened. So everyone disembarked from the front."
A female passenger said it had been dark on board as the fire intensified after landing, saying "It was getting hot inside the plane, and I thought, to be honest, I would not survive."
