A Japan Airlines aircraft 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 evacuated.
The airplane burst into flames as it skidded down the tarmac, and firefighters worked quickly to put out the fire in real time on national broadcaster NHK.
The Coast Guard announced that it was looking into the possibility that the passenger jet and one of its aircraft collided.
A spokesperson at Japan Airlines said the aircraft had departed from Shin-Chitose airport in Hokkaido.
The Captain of the Coast Guard aircraft has escaped while five others are unaccounted for. The aircraft was on its way to Niigata Airport base to deliver aid to quake-hit Noto Peninsula region.
