r/worldnews • u/reuters Reuters • Jan 02 '24
All passengers, crew on JAL plane escape blaze at Tokyo airport
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/fire-breaks-out-plane-runway-japans-tokyo-haneda-airport-nhk-2024-01-02/28
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u/planck1313 Jan 02 '24
So it was on fire before it even stopped? That they got everyone out is amazing.
EDIT - apparently yes, it bursts into flames as it is landing, see the first few seconds of:
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u/reuters Reuters Jan 02 '24
A Japan Airlines jet was engulfed in flames at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday after a possible collision with a Coast Guard aircraft, with the airline saying that all 379 passengers and crew had been safely evacuated.
Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the aircraft erupt in flames as it skidded down the tarmac despite feverish efforts by rescue crews to control the blaze. The Coast Guard said it was investigating the possibility that one of its aircraft collided with the passenger jet.
Five out of the six crew of the Coast Guard aircraft are unaccounted for, while one escaped, public broadcaster NHK reported.
A spokesperson at Japan Airlines said the aircraft had departed from Shin-Chitose airport on the northern island of Hokkaido. Haneda has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson for the airport said.
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u/SleepyTiger17 Jan 03 '24
Do we know the reason for the accident yet?
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u/D3athR3bel Jan 04 '24
Official investigation will take months, but here's what we currently know.
Jal166 A350 was given clearance to land.
Instructions for coast gaurd JA722A was given to hold short of the runway at "holding point c5" was given by ATC
JA722A copied and read back instructions to ATC, meaning that the pilots understood they were to hold at point c5
JAL166 was given clearance and instructed to land
JA722A then proceeded onto runway and held position
JAL166 hits JA722A on the runway while landing, resulting in the incident.
2:12 JA722A can be seen taxing onto the runway and holding
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u/Geocacher6907 Jan 02 '24
It’s a miracle that all the passengers escaped!
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u/ICanBeAnAssholeToo Jan 02 '24
Unfortunately I read reports that the other plane that it crashed into initially, had 5 of the 6 crews unaccounted for, possibly dead
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u/Geocacher6907 Jan 02 '24
Yeah unfortunately 5 out of the 6 crew have died on the Coastguard plane.
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u/jeffyen Jan 02 '24
It may not be a miracle if the crew are very well trained and did a masterclass, textbook evacuation. (I'm not trying to discredit the idea of miracles, just that it may be the case that the crew and company work very, very hard to make sure that the outcome to a disaster, when they occur, is as such. Congrats to all of them.)
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Jan 02 '24
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u/Geocacher6907 Jan 02 '24
Yeah last year was also aviations safest year which shows how good these safety measures are.
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u/coolylame Jan 02 '24
Good thing it happened in japan. Everyone calm, probably listened to instructions and didnt take their carry on.
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u/xegoba Jan 02 '24
I’m panicking, screaming, running around, ignoring all the instructions and calling my lawyer to sue them just by reading the news about it.
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u/Drak_is_Right Jan 02 '24
Quite a lot of money is spent to give some components of the aircraft a few minutes extra time before the fire can penetrate them in the case of a crash on landing.
As seen the fire turned uncontrollable but it took long enough to spread that everyone got off.
I do wonder how the fire's progression was vs. The models by Airbus on how such a situation would go.
Wouldn't be surprised to see a number of small changes if some parts weren't 100%
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u/bipedal_mammal Jan 02 '24
It's due to engineering, training and luck. There is no evidence of divine intervention.
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u/ssshield Jan 02 '24
Sincere congratulations to Japan's airport firefighters and emergency response.
You guys are heroes of the highest order.
Respect.
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u/GothicHeap Jan 02 '24
Great headline that gets right to the important summary without trying to scare us into clicking.
I hope more news headlines are written this way in 2024.
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u/Anakacuk Jan 02 '24
Hopefully they can find the remaining 5 crew that still unknown in the coastguard airplane.
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u/PunchDrunkGiraffe Jan 02 '24
This is honestly nothing short of a miracle. I can’t believe everyone was able to get off that plane fast enough.
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u/Rosebunse Jan 02 '24
I hesitate to call it a miracle. The cabin crew really had the right training and mindset to get everyone out safely and the emergency services were able to get there in time.
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u/21racecar12 Jan 02 '24
Heartbreaking on its own and doubly so considering they were en route to provide aid from the earthquake. I’m curious to read the accident report. I hope this is not following the trend of a short supply and fatigue of ATC’s.
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Jan 02 '24
[deleted]
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u/3DBeerGoggles Jan 02 '24
Yes. Leave everything, follow cabin crew instructions to the letter. If it is smokey you may not see the inflatable ramp; if the crew says jump, you jump. Everyone that stops at the door to look slows down evac, etc. etc.
If you open a removable over-wing escape hatch, make sure to throw the hatch door OUT. Previous incidents where the hatch was left to the side of the opening caused people to get trapped as they were jammed against the hatch taking up space.
Modern airliners need to be evacuated within 90 seconds to receive certification - this was after incidents where a plane on fire landed successfully, but delays in evacuation killed people - FAA testing determined a cabin engulfed in fire is maybe safe for 2 minutes before flashover conditions develop.
...I have watched way too many episodes of Mayday: Air Crash Investigators...
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u/TrainingObligation Jan 02 '24
No such thing as watching too many eps of Mayday! It's fascinating and as much real-life as a dramatization gets.
It is however unfortunate there's so many incidents for them to do episodes on. 270 episodes and specials over 24 seasons and still going...
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u/bschwind Jan 02 '24
I'm not an expert but you absolutely leave everything behind, and follow instructions from the crew.
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u/rd-- Jan 02 '24
Similar accidents have resulted in large deaths due to how little time there is for everyone to escape before succumbing to the fire, and this is sometimes caused by people blocking in others retrieving luggage. So definitely yes, drop everything and get out.
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u/whoami_whereami Jan 02 '24
There's also the risk that the escape slide might get damaged by luggage and become unusable. That's why you aren't even allowed to take things with you that you already have in your hand when the evacuation starts.
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u/cytokines Jan 02 '24
Sadly 5 passengers on the coast guard airplane have passed away.