Five people were left dead after a Japan Airlines aircraft exploded into flames after colliding with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft.
All 367 passengers and 12 crew members on the passenger plane were able to safely evacuate the aircraft at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Five crew members on the Coast Guard aircraft that had been on the way to deliver supplies to assist with the earthquake relief efforts in the region were killed, according to The New York Times.
“They were filled with a determined sense of mission, and it is extremely regrettable and distressing what has happened to them,” Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said of the members of the Coast Guard aircraft. “I express my profound condolences to their surviving families.”
Japan Airlines plane in flames on runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport
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Video footage shows the explosion after the passenger plane had landed on the runway and apparently collided with the Coast Guard aircraft.
BREAKING: Footage recorded from inside Japan Airlines plane that crashed and caught fire on runway of Tokyo Airport pic.twitter.com/5N9vVBSdis
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The passenger aircraft, Flight 516, had departed from New Chitose Airport and had been scheduled to land at Haneda Airport around 5:40 p.m., according to NHK News.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the plane accident at Haneda Airport, especially the missing Japanese Coast Guard personnel who were on their way to help the victims of yesterday’s Ishikawa earthquake,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As we await more information, we commend the professionalism of the flight attendants, crew, and emergency responders who successfully evacuated and saved the lives of all 367 passengers on the JAL flight.”
At least 48 people have been reported to be dead as a result of a 7.6 magnitude earthquake on Monday, which set off tsunami warnings, and evacuations, and led to multiple fires and power outages.
The airline is investigating the cause of the accident.