Japan’s transport minister revealed that 5 people were killed in a Japan Airlines plane caught fire at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday, after colliding with a coast guard plane.
Japan Airlines said all 379 passengers and crew were evacuated safely.
All 367 passengers on the Airbus A350-900 and 12 crew were declared evacuated safely, but five crew members of the six De Havilland Canada DHC-8 crew members were missing before they were confirmed.
The coast guard said the collision involved one of its planes bound for Niigata airport, on Japan’s west coast, to deliver aid to those affected by a powerful earthquake on the first day of the new year.
Footage broadcast live by NHK showed the plane sliding on the runway despite frantic efforts by rescue crews to control the blaze, and the plane collided with a coastguard on the runway.