Survivors talk about plane crash in Japan
Then came the heat and smoke as the burning jet raced down the runway.
Then the survival instincts of those on board kicked in: They struggled to escape a smokefilled cabin, knowing their lives depended on the next few seconds.
The fact that everyone aboard Japan Airlines Flight 516 made it out alive is extraordinary.
Experts say smooth evacuation and new technology played an important role in passengers' survival.
The people on board the second plane, a smaller Coast Guard aircraft that was supposed to provide aid to the victims of the earthquake that shook the country this Monday (1/1), were not so lucky.
Five of them died and the pilot was seriously injured.
1 of 2 Japan Airlines planes catch fire at Tokyo Airport on January 2, 2024 Photo: Issei Kato/Kato Japan Airlines planes catch fire at Tokyo Airport on January 2, 2024 Photo: Issei Kato/ Kato
Investigators are investigating what happened at Haneda Airport at 5:47 p.m. Japan time and why two planes were on the runway at the same time.
Videos and statements from passengers initially paint a picture of a few minutes of horror.
Swedish passenger Anton Deibe, 17, described the chaos following the impact as the Airbus A350 stalled on the runway.
“The entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes,” he told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
“The smoke in the cabin burned like hell. It was hell. We threw ourselves to the ground. Then the emergency doors opened and we threw ourselves against them. We had no idea where we were going, so we ran out. That was it. “Chaos.”
He, his parents and his sister escaped the accident unharmed.
Satoshi Yamake, a 59yearold passenger, said he felt the plane “tilt to one side, followed by a strong jolt” during the initial collision.
Another passenger, who did not want to be named, described a “jolt as if the plane had collided with something as it landed. I saw a spark outside the window and suddenly the cabin filled with smoke.”
A third passenger told broadcaster Kyodo News that he “heard a bang, as if we had just hit something while landing and went up.”
Excerpts of these moments were captured on cell phones.
Some passengers noticed the red glow of an engine still running as the plane came to a stop. Another filmed the interior, a cloud of smoke quickly obscuring the camera lens as passengers screamed and cabin crew tried to navigate their next move.
2 of 2 Japan Airlines plane catches fire at Tokyo Airport on January 2nd, 2024 Photo: GloboNews/Reproduction Japan Airlines plane catches fire at Tokyo Airport on January 2nd, 2024 Photo: GloboNews/Reproduction
A passenger said it was dark on board when the fire intensified after landing.
“It got hot on the plane and I honestly thought I wouldn't survive,” she told Japanese broadcaster NHK.
According to another passenger, the escape plan was complicated by the fact that only one door was used. “The crew said the rear and middle doors could not be opened. So everyone got out at the front,” he said.
Images and videos show the moment people began jumping onto the plane's inflatable slides some falling as they tried to escape a burning cabin and reach safety.
No one appears in the videos with hand luggage an important factor in how quickly a cabin was cleared.
Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, told the BBC that the crew was able to “initiate a classic evacuation” in the crucial first minutes after hitting the other plane.
The fire was isolated “to one area” of the Airbus A350 for the first 90 seconds, giving them a short window of opportunity to remove everyone from the plane, Macheras said.
He said the crew could clearly see which doors were away from the flames, which is why the images showed not all exits were open for escape.
Macheras added that passengers could disrupt the process if they panicked for example, by trying to get their luggage from lockers.
The Airbus A350 is one of the first commercial aircraft made from carbon fiber composites which appears to have survived the first collision and fire well.
All of this happened as the fire spread rapidly until it engulfed the aircraft. Images show firefighters struggling to contain the blaze as the aircraft's fuselage began to break in two.
Satoshi Yamake, a passenger, said that despite all the chaos, it took about five minutes for everyone to get out. “I saw the fire spread in about 10, 15 minutes,” he added.
Tsubasa Sawada, 28, said: “It was a miracle, we could have died.”
It took several hours until the fire was finally extinguished. Fourteen passengers and crew suffered minor injuries.
Hours after the accident, Sawada had a question. “I want to know why this happened?” he asked, adding that he didn’t plan to board another plane until he got the answer.