A Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda airport on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)
TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s coast guard said five crewmembers are missing after a collision between its plane and a passenger plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport that led to a major fire.
Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the coast guard aircraft MA722 and the Japan Airlines plane.
The pilot has evacuated and contacted officials, but the other five crewmembers are unaccounted-for and the condition of the aircraft is also unknown, he said.
The 379 occupants of the passenger plane are all reported to have evacuated safely before the plane was engulfed in fire.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
TOKYO (AP) – A plane burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday, with news reports saying it hit another aircraft after landing. NHK TV reported that all occupants, believed to total 379 people, got out safely.
Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area around the wing then caught fire. Footage an hour later showed the plane entirely engulfed in fire.
It said the plane was an Airbus A-350, JAL flight 516, which had flown out of Shin Chitose airport in Japan to Haneda.
NHK quoted JAL as saying it believed its plane was hit by another aircraft, possibly a Japan Coast Guard plane.
Japan’s Coast Guard said it is investigating the possibility that its MA-722 aircraft might have collided with the JAL flight on the runway.
Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.
