A Japan Airlines A350-900 has caught fire at Japan’s Tokyo Haneda airport, where it collided with a DHC-8 aircraft belonging to the Japanese Coastguard.
Live images from national broadcaster NHK showed footage of the A350 ablaze on the tarmac of Haneda’s C runway, with the Japan Times adding that some 70 fire appliances were dispatched to the burning aircraft. Although all 367 passengers and 12 crew aboard the A350 were evacuated, Japanese authorities have confirmed that five of the six crew aboard the DHC-8 did not survive.
The Coast Guard aircraft is believed to have been on a mission to support the provision of supplies to the relief effort following Monday’s earthquake.
In line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation Annex 13 recommendations, Airbus has confirmed it is dispatching a team of specialists to support the authorities with the investigation, and will be assisting the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses and the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) in charge of the investigation.