Japan Airlines plane bursts into flames at Tokyo airport with 379 people on board, all escape

Posted By: Ashley Smith
January 2, 2024 @ 8:08 am
Local News

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This photo provided by Jiji Press shows a Japan Airlines plane on fire on a runway of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Jan. 2, 2024. (STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)

(TOKYO) — A Japan Airlines plane was engulfed in flames after landing at Haneda Airport on Tuesday.

The flight, JL516, which was traveling from Chitose, Hokkaido, may have struck a Japan Coast Guard plane as it was landing, officials told Japanese broadcaster NHK, saying it was a preliminary assessment. The aircraft landed at about 5:47 p.m. local time.

There were 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board when the flight landed, NHK reported. All 379 safely left the plane after it landed, the airline said, according to NHK.

Six people were on board the Coast Guard aircraft, which was scheduled to fly to Niigata, Japan, for earthquake relief, officials told NHK.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office identified the Coast Guard aircraft as JA722A, saying on social media that five of the six on board had been killed.

Live video from the airport, an international hub on the outskirts of Tokyo, showed firefighters battling flames that have engulfed the aircraft’s fuselage.

More than 70 firefighting vehicles responded to the runway as the fire raged. The fire was still burning about two hours after the landing.

The plane was an Airbus A350, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

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