The tragic collision of two aircraft at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, has left at least five people dead. The accident involved a plane from Japan Airlines and another from the Japanese Coast Guard.
The incident, which occurred on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport, led to a fire in the Japan Airlines aircraft.
All 367 passengers on board the Japan Airlines flight were safely evacuated, according to NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster. However, reports indicate that five individuals on the Coast Guard aircraft are missing.
Television footage showed the plane ablaze on the runway, with flames erupting from its lower structure. Later, the entire body of the aircraft, split in half, was engulfed in massive flames, as firefighting teams worked to extinguish the fire.
The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but there is speculation about a possible collision between the civilian aircraft, an Airbus, which had just landed at Haneda Airport from Sapporo Airport in Hokkaido, and the Coast Guard plane.
A Coast Guard official at Haneda Airport, one of the busiest in the world, mentioned that the authorities are “looking into the details” and confirmed their aircraft’s involvement in the incident. NHK reported that over 70 fire trucks were deployed for fire-fighting operations.
Japan has had a strong safety record in aviation, with no major accidents in recent decades. The country’s worst aviation disaster occurred in 1985 when a Japan Airlines flight from Tokyo to Osaka crashed in Gunma Prefecture, killing 520 passengers and crew members.
