Five dead after Japan Airlines flight collides with Coastguard

An Airbus A350 Japan Airlines passenger jet has today (02/01/24) collided with a Japanese coastguard aircraft, at Haneda airport in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, five people aboard the Japanese coastguard aircraft have died. The captain has been severely injured, but evacuated. Incredibly, all 379 passengers and crew aboard the Japan Airlines A350 passenger jet evacuated safely.

The A350 passenger jet was landing at Haneda airport when CCTV captured it bursting into flames on contact with the ground at 17:47 local time (08:47 UTC). It is not yet known the full circumstances upon which this came to happen, but it is believed that the A350 collided with the coastguard aircraft on touchdown. Intense fire ripped through the cabin and was burning for approximately three hours before being extinguished.

All flights to/from Haneda airport have been suspended indefinitely, with ATC closing all runways via an ATIS message.

Both the crew of the passenger jet and the aircraft have been commended by industry experts, on how they performed during this incident. Airbus have been approached for comment and have released a statement, stating they are in contact with Japan Airlines and will release further information when available.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the families involved.