A Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames on Tuesday, and now, people want answers.
A collision on a runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo killed five crew members of a coastguard plane.
Luckily, all crew and passengers onboard managed to make what is being described as a “miracle” escape.
JAL flight 516, an Airbus A350-900, was engulfed in flames shortly after landing.
The passenger plane struck the smaller coastguard aircraft, which was waiting to deliver aid to the Noto peninsula following an earthquake.
Amid the chaos, the captain of the commercial jet managed to bring the burning aircraft to a stop.
That’s when the 379 passengers onboard, including eight children, plus 12 crew members fled the plane’s cabin by sliding down inflatable slides at its front.
Soon, the jet was entirely covered by fire, with flames seen making their way out of the cabin’s windows.
According to the Tokyo fire department, 14 of those evacuated from the plane suffered minor injuries, including burns to the throat.
Luckily, only four passengers had to be taken to the hospital for their injuries.
Japanese investigators are studying what’s left of the passenger plane that burst into flames as air traffic control recordings pointed blame at the earthquake-relief plane it hit.
Authorities say the passenger plane had received permission to land, while air traffic controllers told the coast guard pilot to “hold.”
According to a transcript of air traffic control communications from about five minutes before the crash, a controller told the Japan Airlines flight to “continue approach” to Runway C.
The Japan Airlines flight crew then “acknowledged and repeated” the order before they made their way to the runway, according to airline officials in a news release.
Members of the coast guard crew then said they were taxiing onto the same runway, and the air traffic controller instructed them to proceed to the stop line before the aircraft reached the runway.
The controller did note that the coast guard flight gets departure priority and the pilot moved to the stop line.
Still, it was never cleared for takeoff.
An official with the coast guard claimed the flight was given permission to enter the runway and prepare for takeoff, but acknowledged that the transcript does not show that.
Now, local police are investigating whether there was any professional negligence that led to this tragedy.
“There’s a strong possibility this involved human error,” Hiroyuki Kobayashi, a former Japan Airlines pilot and aviation analyst, told the Guardian.
He continued, “Only one plane is generally allowed to enter the runway, but even though landing clearance had been given, the Japanese coast guard aircraft was on the runway.”
Some aviation experts have praised the crew, saying their actions helped stop what could have been a far worse outcome.
Before Tuesday, Japan had not experienced a serious commercial aviation accident for decades.
Interestingly enough, the crash came just weeks after the global airline industry was given new warnings about runway safety.
Local media reports said police would conduct an investigation into the crash.
Airbus, the company that manufactured the JAL plane, said that it would send a team of specialists to help Japanese authorities investigate.
Following the traumatic incident, the prime minister, Fumio Kishida, praised the coastguard crew who died on their way to help victims of the earthquake.
“These were employees who had a high sense of mission and responsibility for the affected areas,” he said, praising the five service members who died.