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Five killed in aircraft runway crash at Tokyo Haneda airport

Five killed in aircraft runway crash at Tokyo Haneda airport

Five crewmembers of a Japanese Coast Guard Bombardier Dash-8 turboprop aircraft that was to carry supplies to the area hit by an earthquake earlier this year died at Tokyo's Haneda airport Tuesday following a crash with a Japan Air Lines (JAL) Airbus 350 airliner at 5.46 pm local time that was landing from Shin-Chitose airport near Sapporo in northern Japan, it was reported.

The 379 passengers and crew of JAL flight 516 were evacuated safely as the aircraft set ablaze in the middle of the runway, according to local media. While 17 of them were injured, none of them were affected seriously, according to Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

The captain of the Coast Guard plane managed to survive but has been hospitalized. He was to bring supplies to the Niigata Air Base to assist in the earthquake relief effort.

“The cause of the accident will be investigated, so it is necessary to preserve the scene but we will do our best to resume operations tonight,” said Shigetsu Hiraoka, Director General of the Civil Aviation Bureau. The Japan Safety Transport Board will lead the probe with participation from agencies in France, where the airplane was built, and Britain where its two Rolls-Royce engines were manufactured.

Investigators are expected to focus on the instructions given by controllers to the two aircraft. “One obvious question is whether the Coast Guard plane was on the runway and if so why,” an expert quoted by local media explained. Early indications suggest the captain of the JAL flight had been given the appropriate permissions to land. It is still unclear what communication had occurred with the pilot of the Dash-8.

“It would appear that the pilot of the Coast Guard plane entered the runway when it was not supposed to. Whether or not that was the result of the air traffic control giving that instruction or whether the pilot … was confused by the instruction is yet to be seen,” another specialist ventured.

The crash is the first significant accident involving the Airbus A350, a model in service since 2015.

The airline said the evacuation began almost immediately after the plane reached a standstill and all passengers were taken to safety within less than 20 minutes. This incident happened without warning; meaning there would have been limited time for pilots to brief the crew on what was happening and to formulate a plan. Witnesses estimate the plane was engulfed by flames 10 minutes later.

After the accident, more than 100 flights were canceled at Haneda Airport, affecting some 20,000 travelers, according to state-run broadcaster NHK. JAL and its rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) were the main airlines affected. However, the Central Japan Railway Company would provide additional bullet trains on Wednesday, NHK reported. Tokyo Haneda is one of the Japanese capital's two international airports and one of the busiest in the world.