All 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) jet evacuated the burning airliner following a collision with a Coast Guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday, which killed five of the smaller plane’s crew.

The JAL Airbus A350 (9201.T) (AIR.PA) plane erupted into flames as it slid down the tarmac soon before 6 p.m. (0900 GMT), according to live footage by national broadcaster NHK.

Passengers were seen screaming inside the plane’s smoke-filled cabin and rushing on the tarmac after exiting via an evacuation slide, according to video and photographs uploaded on social media.

A child’s voice can be heard yelling momentarily, “Let us get out quickly!” Let us get out of here as soon as possible!”

All 367 passengers and 12 crew members were evacuated from the flaming airplane, but the fire was not doused until soon after midnight, after burning for more than six hours, according to TBS.

“I was wondering what happened, and then I felt the airplane tilted to the side at the runway and felt a big bump,” Satoshi Yamake, 59, a telecommunications firm employee on board, said. “The flight attendants told us to stay calm and instructed us to get off the plane.”

According to Japan Airlines, fourteen passengers aboard the passenger jet were hurt, although none of the injuries looked to be life-threatening.

Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito stated that five members of the Coast Guard aircraft’s crew perished, while the plane’s 39-year-old captain survived but was injured.

According to a ministry official, the JAL jet performed a regular landing when it collided with the Coast Guard’s Bombardier-built Dash-8 maritime surveillance plane on the runway.

The official stated that there had been no complaints of engine or other difficulties on the airplane before the landing. The Coast Guard said its jet was on its way to Niigata on Japan’s west coast to give relief to those affected by the massive earthquake that struck on New Year’s Day and killed at least 55 people.

A JAL spokesman informed a press conference that the airplane had gotten land clearance. However, he stressed that communications with flight control were still being investigated.

‘IT WAS A MIRACLE,’ he said.
Passengers and aviation professionals hailed the evacuation’s haste.

“I heard an explosion about 10 minutes after everyone and I got off the plane,” said Tsubasa Sawada, a 28-year-old passenger. “I can only say it was a miracle; we could have died if we were late.”

Paul Hayes, head of air safety at UK-based aviation consultancy Ascend by Cirium, observed that no one exiting the plane was carrying hand luggage. Safety agencies have cautioned for years that stopping to grab carry-on bags during an evacuation endangers lives. “The cabin crew must have done an outstanding job.” “It was a miracle that everyone got off,” he claimed.

The aircraft’s in-flight announcement system failed during the evacuation, so crew members utilized megaphones to deliver orders, according to Japan Airlines.

Kaoru Ishii, waiting for her 29-year-old daughter and boyfriend at the arrival gate, assumed the aircraft was delayed until her daughter called to clarify. “She said the plane had caught fire, and she exited via a slide,” Ishii said in an interview. “I was really relieved that she was alright.”

According to a JAL spokeswoman, the plane took off from New Chitose airport on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

CAUSE UNDER EXAMINATION

According to interviews with the aircraft crew, the crew accepted landing clearance from air traffic control, confirmed it, and then completed the approach and landing procedures.

“There were no issues with the aircraft at the time of departure from New Chitose Airport or during the flight,” Lufthansa claimed.

The sequence of orders sent seconds before the disaster could not be determined from multi-channel recordings available on liveatc.net.

Shortly after the collision, an air traffic control monitoring website caught a controller warning all inbound aircraft, “Airport is closed, Haneda airport is closed.”

According to Transport Minister Saito, the reason for the accident is unknown, and the Japan Transport Safety Board, police, and other authorities will continue to investigate.

The JTSB air accident bureau has initiated an inquiry, which will be joined by representatives from France, where the plane was built, and the United Kingdom, where the jet’s two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines were made.

Airbus also stated that it will send technical experts. Haneda, one of the two main airports servicing Tokyo, was closed several hours after the accident, but a transport ministry spokesman said three runways have already reopened.

JAL’s Japanese competitor ANA (9202.T) had already announced that it would cancel 110 domestic flights departing and landing at Haneda for the remainder of Tuesday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said authorities were trying to ensure that the tragedy did not hamper deliveries of earthquake relief materials, and he expressed grief over the loss of Coast Guard personnel.

“This is a great regret as the crew members performed their duties with a strong sense of mission and responsibility for the victims of the disaster area,” he said.