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Using megaphones and “their own voices,” the flight crew of a Japan Airlines aircraft directed hundreds of passengers off the aircraft as it caught fire on a Tokyo runway on Tuesday, the airline said on Wednesday.
The airline released a press release stating, “During the evacuation, the aircraft’s announcement system malfunctioned.”
At Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, the aircraft struck a Japan Coast Guard aircraft during landing, forcing all 367 passengers and 12 crew members to be evacuated. There were eight babies on the Airbus A350.
The airline said that the three crew members in the cockpit had been given permission to land in a statement released on Wednesday that went into detail about the moments leading up to and including the landing.
According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, which cited transcripts made public by the nation’s transportation ministry on Wednesday, air traffic control did not give the Japan Coast Guard plane permission to enter the runway prior to the collision.
Three emergency exits allowed all of the passengers on the Japan Airlines aircraft to escape, according to the airline. As the plane started to catch fire, the passengers “successfully performed an emergency evacuation,” according to the airline.
At least 14 travelers made requests for medical advice. According to the airline, 13 people sought consultations “due to physical discomfort,” and one person had bruises.
At approximately 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday, the flight, JAL516, had departed from New Chitosan Airport in Sapporo, Japan, on schedule. According to Japan Airlines, it “did not experience any issues or irregularities” during the flight or during its departure. It arrived at 5:47 p.m. late.
“According to interviews with the operating crew, they acknowledged and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control and then proceeded with the approach and landing procedures,” Japan Airlines stated in a statement.
Five of the six crew members were killed when the plane struck a Japan Coast Guard aircraft, according to Japanese officials. As the larger plane descended the runway, footage from the incident showed it bursting into flames.
The airline stated that the Airbus was completely destroyed when it caught fire on the runway.
According to a statement released by Airbus on Tuesday, the aircraft—which was registered as JA13XJ—was delivered to Japan Airlines on November 10, 2021. The aircraft had Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.
In order to support French and Japanese investigators looking into the crash, the French plane manufacturer announced that it was sending “a team of specialists” to Japan.
