A plane carrying 379 passengers burst into flames on Tuesday at the Haneda International Airport in Japan. The plane, Japan Airlines Flight 516, burst into flames after colliding with a small relief plane at the airport.
All 379 passengers in the Japan Airlines flight 516 were rescued. Reports say that the Airbus A350-900 aircraft ignited after flying into Haneda from the northern Japanese city of Sapporo at 5:47 p.m. local time (3:47 a.m. ET).
According to Japan public broadcaster NHK, five crew members died on the second aircraft.
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The second plane is reported to have been a De Havilland Canada DHC-8 which is operated by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). The reports said that the plane’s captain was in a critical condition.
A report by the BBC said that it is believed the coastguard aircraft, which was taking food to areas hit by Monday’s powerful earthquake, collided with the Japan Airlines plane as it landed on the runway.
Reports added that the smaller aircraft had been headed from Haneda airport to an airbase in Niigata prefecture to help with relief efforts following a 7.5-magnitude earthquake on Monday.
“Video footage showed the passenger jet (Japan Airlines Flight 516) consumed by a large fireball as it moved down the runway. The plane was then seen at a standstill with people using emergency slides to flee the inferno as firefighters tried to battle the growing flames,” a related report by the CNN said.