A Japan Airlines aircraft carrying more than 300 passengers caught fire while landing at a Tokyo airport Tuesday January 2, 2024 after a possible midair collision with a Coast Guard aircraft, according to local media.
The plane was seen with flames bursting through its windows on the runway at Haneda International Airport shortly before 6 p.m. local time.
All 379 passengers on the flight were evacuated from the burning aircraft following the crash.
The JAL plane was an Airbus A-350 that had flown from Shin Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo, to Haneda, the transport minister said.
The Coast Guard aircraft was en route to Niigata Airport to deliver aid for the deadly earthquake across Japan before the collision, military officials said.
Five of six Coast Guardsmen who were aboard the aircraft during the crash were unaccounted for, local broadcasts said.
Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima said its plane was MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8.
Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan closed while the collision is under investigation by aviation safety investigators and police, but that they are doing their best to reopen the airport Wednesday January 3, 2024 or even sooner.
