The incident at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, where a passenger jet collided with a coast guard plane on Tuesday night, spared the lives of all 379 passengers and crew on the Airbus. However, the collision claimed the lives of five crew members on the coastguard aircraft; its captain was the lone survivor with serious injuries.
As the Airbus touched down, a malfunction in the front landing gear caused it to halt on its nose. Within moments, emergency slides were deployed, allowing passengers to evacuate just before flames consumed the aircraft.
Local authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether possible professional negligence played a role in the incident. Local media reported that police would examine the circumstances leading to the collision. A police spokesperson confirmed the establishment of a special investigation unit at the airport but declined to comment on whether they are specifically looking into possible professional negligence.
During a late-night briefing on Tuesday, Japan Airlines officials affirmed that the passenger jet had secured landing permission from air traffic control. Despite this assurance, both JAL and the land ministry have refrained from providing direct comments on the exchanges between flight controllers and the two planes. The ongoing investigation is cited as the reason for their silence.
A recording from Haneda’s control tower, believed to have been captured in the moments just before the collision, has surfaced on a site broadcasting live air traffic signals. In the recording, a voice can be heard advising the Japan Airlines flight to “continue approach.”
The investigation into the incident will receive international support. France’s Airbus, the manufacturer of the JAL plane, will send a team of specialists to aid Japanese authorities. British investigators will also join the effort, as the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines of the Airbus were manufactured in the United Kingdom.
Amid cancellations and disrupted operations at one of the world’s busiest airports, domestic flights at Haneda resumed on Wednesday morning.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida praised the dedication of the deceased crew members of the coastguard aircraft, who were on a mission to aid victims of the New Year’s Day earthquake that claimed at least 62 lives. The incident is reminiscent of the 1985 JAL jumbo jet crash in the collision claimed the lives of five occupants on the coastguard aircraft; its captain was the lone survivor the central Gunma region, one of the world’s deadliest single-flight plane crashes, where 520 passengers and crew lost their lives.