Japan Airlines crash: How the 379 people on board survived
O Fantastic recounts the details of the evacuation of a Japan Airlines Airbus A350, one of the world's largest aircraft, which collided with a smaller aircraft while landing at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
After the collision, the plane began to burst into flames. The twelve crew members led the evacuation of the 367 passengers, all of whom remained unharmed. The professionals undergo rigorous training to prepare for disasters of this type. The protocols are tested every six months.
Although I heard shouting, most people were quiet and didn't get up from their seats, but just sat and waited. “I believe that we managed to escape peacefully,” says Aruto Iwama, one of the rescued passengers.
Aruto also reports that one of the crew's main instructions was for passengers to leave their luggage behind, which Lito Sousa, aviation safety consultant, said was crucial to the success of the evacuation.
In order to at least get hand luggage back, the entire evacuation process is often delayed, the corridors are blocked and people's tension increases.
From the moment of collision to the last person exiting the aircraft, eighteen minutes passed a much longer period of time than the average expected time for the evacuation of such an aircraft, about 90 seconds. “This is due to the hull, which is made of carbon. If we compare it to an aluminum hull, the aluminum would have caught fire much more quickly,” explains Lito Sousa.
For Sérgio Quito, from the Gol Industrial Safety Council, this evacuation will be “an example for everyone in aviation, like the story of a perfect emergency evacuation”.
“Whenever an accident occurs, it is investigated in detail because it triggers changes in the global aviation system. “It’s always like that,” explains Lito.
There were Japanese on the plane, but also people of dozens of other nationalities, including the Brazilian Maria Shiguemi Ichiyama, who has lived in Japan for more than 30 years and is dean of a university there.
Ichiyama points out that while the crew's calm and organization ensured a successful rescue, they were relieved but did not surprise them.
“You have to stay calm. And that has to do with good Japanese education, with the idea of respect for others, with a sense of community, especially in moments like these. It is a way to prepare them from childhood for the natural disasters that happen in Japan.”
A sense of collectivity affirmed by Sérgio Quito. “It’s collaborative. Passengers and flight attendants organized the successful evacuation. This requires discipline. Japanese society is anything but individualistic, and that was the key.”
Safety became a priority for Japan Airlines after 1985, when the company's Boeing 747 crashed into a mountain 100 km from Tokyo. Only four people survived and another 520 died.
Most of the company's protocols were developed with the help of British professor Helen Muir, who emphasizes the importance of remaining calm and knowing the processes for responding to disasters.
“People who survive accidents are those who already have a plan in mind, know where to go, listen to what the crew says and put the plan into action,” he told the documentary Horizons: Survivors' Guide to Plan for crashes.
Fantástico goes through all the training details that airline professionals undergo, for example at Japan Airlines. Check out the full report above.
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