Five dead in spectacular accident at Tokyo airport - plane burns out
The Japan Airlines scheduled flight from Sapporo in the north had just landed at Haneda Airport when the accident occurred. "Smoke was spreading through the plane and I thought, 'this looks bad'," a passenger told reporters at the airport. "There was an announcement that the doors at the back and in the middle couldn't be used, so everyone got out at the front."
Television footage showed the Japan Airlines Airbus driving across the tarmac as flames and black smoke suddenly shot out. Videos circulated online showed passengers exiting the aircraft via emergency slides while the rear of the plane was already engulfed in flames. One woman reported that it was dark in the passenger cabin while the fire outside intensified. "It got hot in the plane, and honestly, I didn't think I'd survive."
According to the minister, it was initially unclear how the collision could have occurred. Investigators are hoping to find out by analyzing the radio traffic between the crews of the two aircraft and the tower. The Coast Guard plane was supposed to bring relief supplies to the central Japanese earthquake region.
Haneda Airport is one of two international airports in the Japanese capital and is one of the airports with the highest passenger numbers in the world. Domestic flights from Haneda were canceled after the disaster, but most international take-offs and landings went ahead as planned, according to the airport website.
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Source: www.stern.de
