A collision between a Japan Airlines plane and a Japanese Coast Guard plane took place on Tuesday morning.
A Japan Airlines plane caught fire on the runway at Tokyo-Haneda Airport on Tuesday after being struck by a Japanese coast guard aircraft.
All passengers on the plane, 379 people, exited the plane safely.
Local television video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on the runway. The area around the wing then caught fire. An hour later, images showed the plane fully engulfed in flames.
The airline said the plane was an Airbus A-350. JAL Flight 516 took off from Shin Chitose Airport in Japan to Tokyo-Haneda.
Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the airliner and its flight MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8.
Authorities announced the death of five crew members of the coast guard aircraft.
Swede Anton Deibe, 17, who was a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that “The whole cabin was filled with smoke in a few minutes. We threw ourselves on the ground. Then the emergency doors were opened and we rushed in.”
Kyodo news agency says the coast guard plane, which is based in Haneda, was scheduled to fly to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents affected by a deadly earthquake that killed at least 48 people.
