A tragic incident occurred on January 2 at Tokyo's Haneda Airport when a Japan Airlines Airbus A350, coming in to land, collided with a coast guard plane. Regrettably, all five individuals aboard the coast guard plane lost their lives, while all 379 passengers on the airliner were safely evacuated. Here is a breakdown of what is currently known about the collision, which resulted in both aircraft being engulfed in flames.
Sequence of Events:
At 5:44:56 pm, air traffic control cleared Japan Airlines flight JAL-516, arriving from Hokkaido, to land on runway 34R. Just 15 seconds later, the coast guard flight JA722A was instructed to taxi to holding point C5, located approximately 50 meters (164 feet) from the runway's edge. The pilot of JA722A promptly acknowledged the order. Roughly two minutes later, the Japan Airlines flight landed and collided with the coast guard's DHC-8 aircraft, indicating that the coast guard plane had proceeded onto the runway.
Investigation and Black Box:
Investigators have not yet publicly concluded their findings. The flight recorder and voice recorder from the coast guard plane have been recovered, as well as the flight recorder from the passenger jet. However, the voice recorder of the passenger jet is still missing. Aviation expert Guido Carim Junior from Griffith University emphasized the need to await the comprehensive accident investigation before determining the exact cause, as incidents like this result from multiple factors that interact with each other, rather than being solely attributed to human error or technological malfunction.
Evacuation and Exit Challenges:
Amidst the chaos, an orange ball of fire and black smoke engulfed the Japan Airlines airliner as it sped down the runway. Passengers captured footage showing flames beneath the plane and smoke filling the cabin, while crew members sought permission to open emergency exits. International regulations require aircraft to be fully evacuated within 90 seconds, utilizing half of the emergency exits. However, due to the fire, only three of the eight emergency exits could be used—two at the front and one at the rear left. The intercom system malfunctioned, preventing the cockpit from granting permission to use the rear exit. Nevertheless, the trained crew at the back decided to open it, and all 367 passengers were successfully directed off the plane using emergency slides.
Evacuation Success and Aftermath:
Thanks to the efforts of the dedicated crew, it took 18 minutes to evacuate the entire plane, with the pilot being the last to disembark at 6:05 pm. Remarkably, only two people sustained injuries during the evacuation.
Source: Punch News
