The 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board were evacuated; 5 people on the Coast Guard plane died
A Japan Airlines aircraft, model Airbus A350, caught fire while landing at Haneda Airport in Tokyo (Japan) this Tuesday (January 2, 2024). The 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board were evacuated. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, five passengers on the military plane died and 14 people were injured.
Images broadcast live by NHK showed the plane in flames after it skidded off the runway. The plane collided with a Japanese Coast Guard plane while landing at Tokyo Airport. The Coast Guard plane had 6 people on board.
Haneda Airport was closed following the incident and had not reopened as of this writing.
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke about the accident in a publication on X (formerly Twitter). He said he had been informed of the deaths of the crew of the Coast Guard plane. The plane was scheduled to fly to the city of Niigata on a relief mission after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the country on Monday (January 1).
“I would like to express my respect and gratitude to the employees who carried out their work with a strong sense of mission and responsibility, and I pray that their souls rest in peace,” he said.
