Japan News Agency : Five people were killed when a large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday and caught fire, according to officials.

According to Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito, all 379 passengers on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 escaped safely before the Airbus A350 completely caught fire.

According to Saito, the five crew men of the Coast Guard’s Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft perished, but the pilot managed to flee. According to officials, the plane was getting ready to take off in order to provide relief to a region struck by a strong earthquake on Monday.

When the Japan Airlines aircraft collided during landing, smoke shot out of its side and an orange blaze burst from the aircraft, according to television footage. The aircraft then continued down the runway. All passengers and crew members evacuated via emergency chutes in less than twenty minutes.

The region surrounding the passenger plane’s wing caught fire as firefighters attempted to extinguish the flames with sprays of water. The plane eventually collapsed as the flames crept throughout it. It took almost six hours to put out the fire.

The Airbus A350, one of the newest major passenger jets in the industry, sustained severe damage for the first time in its existence on Tuesday. In 2015, it started operating on a business basis. The aircraft was delivered to Japan Airlines in late 2021, according to an announcement from Airbus, which also stated that it was sending experts to assist French and Japanese investigators into the disaster.

According to the minister of transportation, the A350 took off from Shin Chitose airport, which is close to Sapporo.

The A350 and Boeing 787 fuselages, which are constructed with carbon-composite fibers rather than traditional aluminum skins, are expected to utilize the incident as a major test case.

The burning behavior of composites is not well understood, according to safety consultant John Cox. “To my knowledge, this is the most devastating composite-airplane fire.” Nevertheless, for a while, the fuselage kept out a horrifying fire that would have otherwise killed the passengers and allowed them to escape.

At a late-night press conference on Tuesday, JAL Managing Executive Officer Tadayuki Tsutsumi stated that the A350 was performing a “normal entry and landing” on the runway, but he did not elaborate on the details of the collision with the Coast Guard aircraft. JAL managing executive officer Noriyuki Aoki stated that the airline is adamant that the plane has authorization from aviation authorities to land.

According to NHK television, police are anticipated to look into the accident on the grounds of possible professional negligence.

The 17-year-old Swede Anton Deibe, who was traveling on the Japan Airlines aircraft, said to the Swedish daily Aftonbladet that “within minutes, the entire cabin was filled with smoke.” We fell to the ground with great abandon. We hurled ourselves at the emergency doors as soon as they were opened.

The cabin’s smoke stung like crazy. It was just horrible. We just dash into the field, not knowing where we are headed. Chaos reigned,” Deibe continued.

Another traveler reported to NHK television that after the flight attendants calmly instructed everyone to leave their bags behind, all of the lights went off and the cabin’s temperature began to rise. The traveler expressed her concern that she might not make it off the aircraft alive.

Each and every passenger and crew member survived by sliding down the escape chutes. Only after they arrived at a grassy area that extended beyond the tarmac did a few passengers express relief in interviews with the media.

According to JAL, four people were brought to a hospital. According to NHK, 14 more persons were hurt.

The safety consultant, Cox, reported that the cabin crew “did a remarkably great job” of assisting passengers in alighting from the aircraft.

As Cox put it, “It shows good training.” Furthermore, it is evident from the video that nobody is attempting to remove anything from the overheads. Their main focus is getting out of the aircraft.

According to the ministry of transportation, every effort is being made to ensure that relief supplies reach areas affected by earthquakes without any delays. The three other runways at the airport have reopened, according to transport officials.

With a large number of international and transcontinental flights, Haneda is the busier of the two major airports serving the capital of Japan. Because it is close to the city’s center, business travelers especially like it.

Many long-haul international carriers operate the twin-engine, twin-aisle A350. Airbus claims that more than 570 of the aircraft are now in service.

As per their website, JAL is the operator of sixteen A350-900 versions of aircraft. The airline recently revealed the specifications of 13 of the more modern A350-1000 variants that it intends to deploy, stating that they will serve as “the airline’s new flagship for international service after nearly 20 years.” A few weeks ago, the first of those aircraft—which was supposed to fly the Haneda–JFK route—arrived.

The trade association for the International Air Transport Association posted on the social networking site X that “the last two days have been difficult for Japan” and expressed its condolences for the people on board the two aircraft.