The relatively mild aftermath underscores the strides made in engineering within the latest airliner models and the safety ethos ingrained in premium carriers like Japan Airlines.
Police will investigate whether a crash between an airliner and a smaller plane at a Tokyo airport may involve professional negligence, media outlets reported on Wednesday, as authorities began inspecting the charred wreckage and runway for clues.
Inside the packed airbus a-350, thick smoke and panic filled the cabin. 17-year-old anton dee was on board with his family and saw flames outside his window. finally open the doors and everyone ran out and you had to jump out of the plane. reporter: the safe evacuation of all 379 passengers and crew with black smoke and flames billowing over the fuselage has been hailed as remarkable, taking less than 90 seconds. i can only say it was a miracle, this passenger says. while the japanese coast guard s much smaller dash 8 aircraft was on the same runway as the jumbo jet isn t clear. five of six crew members were killed in the collision, only the pilot making it out alive. the plane, due to deliver aid to areas on japan s west coast, devastated by the new year s day earthquakes that have killed at least 64 people. rescuers still racing to save
New images out tonight of the deadly plane crash that triggered an infore know on a tokyo runway. clues about what went wrong here. after japan airlines flight 516 with nearly 400 passengers and crew on it collided as you saw just there with a coast guard plane, a dash 8. some emergency doors were not functioning on the airliner, but the flight crew got all 367 passengers out as the cabin began to fill with spoke. as you can see in this video. but at least five people on the smaller coast guard aircraft were killed. they were headed to help with relief efforts in the earthquake zone in western japan. joining me now is david sussi and former inspector general for the department of transportation, mary skiavo. air traffic audio appearing to show that the japan airlines
Guard crew members dead. questions still remain over what could have caused the collision. nbc news foreign correspondent janis mackey frayer has more. reporter: investigators are pouring over the crash site at haneda airport, which is just behind me. on ground collisions between aircraft are very rare, so they re trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. in the charred hull of the destroyed passenger plane, investigators are hoping to find clues. in a statement, japan airlines says flight 516 from sporo was cleared to land at haneda airport. then, footage from runway cameras show the jet appearing to hit something, bursting into flames and eventually skidding down the runway to a stop.