Japan Airlines plane in flames at Tokyo's Haneda airport

[Kendall Roy]

https://packaged-media.redd.it/zos4e4obc0ac1/pb/m2-res_480p.mp4?m=DASHPlaylist.mpd&v=1&e=1704207600&s=594154c8d6e5c521af8ae5f5af55f4ce14342b38#t=0

Video from Starboard side post-evac.

 

[justinbrett]

hmmm... now FR24 has DL276 taxiing on the 34R.

There was a safety vehicle in front of it and it vacated at the first taxiway, so not a big deal.

 

[SCM]

Very sad set of circumstances.

The Japan Coast Guard aircraft carrying six crew members was reportedly preparing to fly supplies to Niigata in response to the 2024 Sea of Japan earthquake which happened the day before. The captain managed to escape, whereas the 5 remaining crew members are currently being identified

Once again though, the silver lining is the impressive safety performance of the A350 in this difficult situation where the aircraft was quickly engulfed in flames. Airplanes can pass all the regulatory approvals, but it's not until push comes to shove that you see how well they perform in an emergency.

 

[jase05]

It seems someone in the tower will get in heaps of trouble over this. Possibly cleared JL to land while the dash 8 was preparing to depart.
someone might need to go over the ATC records and see what the aircraft involved were cleared for.

Airport Detail: HND | LiveATC.net

www.liveatc.net

Just read on another platform “All arrivals at the time were using 34L. This was the only aircraft to land on 34R which was operating departures at the time”

 

[Himeno]

Just read on another platform “All arrivals at the time were using 34L. This was the only aircraft to land on 34R which was operating departures at the time”

So ATC cleared them for 34R in error, or the JL crew landed on 34R in error.

When I listened to the ATIS, it was saying all runways closed, then giving conditions for 34L.

 

[Quickstatus]

Videos of evac so far show passengers not carrying luggage.

 

[jase05]

5 coastguard crew confirmed dead

 

[elanshin]

So ATC cleared them for 34R in error, or the JL crew landed on 34R in error.

When I listened to the ATIS, it was saying all runways closed, then giving conditions for 34L.

there is already ATC recording apparently. JL516 was cleared to land on 34R with correct readback. the coastguard was supposedly to hold short of C1. Runway incursion may have occured there.

 

[kpc]

Videos of evac so far show passengers not carrying luggage.

It's Japan where people follow the rules!

 

[jb747]

This live stream was live when the incident occurred. Still live.

Go to about 17:47 , the time on the video that is. Seems like they hit another aircraft, remains to be seen if that aircraft was entering, on the runway. The other aircraft is most certainly gone.

【ライブ】羽田空港第2ターミナルを24時間配信中！ HANEDA,Tokyo International Airport Terminal2【LIVE】ANN/テレ朝

羽田空港(東京国際空港)第2ターミナルのライブカメラを配信します。※画面が動くことがあります。ご了承ください。#羽田空港 #ライブカメラ #Japan #Tokyo #HANEDA #airport ---------------------------------------------------------...

www.youtube.com

At the 17:47 you see a red flash across the airfield, and then the 350 rolls through the frame. The camera actually pans to the other aircraft around the 17:58 point, and you can see fire vehicles spraying foam, but there's no aircraft as such, just bits of debris. The daylight images will be telling.

From the 19:30 mark onwards, you can see the fire crews working on the coughpit of the other aircraft.

From what I've been able to read, there was already an emergency in progress with a priority landing, unconfirmed that they were too heavy on fuel. During this landing, another aircraft (coastguard aircraft or something) collided with the A350.

Nothing makes this approach look to be anything other than normal. They wouldn't have been 'heavy on fuel' as this was their destination, and even if they had a full alternate back to their start point, it's relatively minor load. Approach speeds are quite normal, and stable. Nothing to see there.

Already it seems like there were a number of things going wrong here, not just one thing, but it looks like the aircraft was burning very intensely - in fact you can clearly see fire across many parts of the cabin (but unclear if that's after the evacuation), I am worried if everyone was able to be evacuated quickly enough.

The fire crews will never be able to put out a large aircraft that is substantially on fire. You only need to look at the 777s in SFO and Dubai to see that. What they are aiming to do is to keep the flames reasonably under control so that people will have a few minutes to get away. That's the entire aim, and it was achieved here.

The Japanese are generally pretty good at aviation, so this is not something that anyone would have been expecting.

Have a good look at the people coming off the slides. Without the nose gear, the rear slides are much steeper than usual. Thankfully baggage looks to have been left behind, as it would be even more dangerous than usual.

All will become clear in daylight, but from what I can see of the 350 (before being burnt) it has lost its radome and nose gear. The fire seems to have had a source low in the fuselage around the mid section. The main gear is intact. A guess at this point would have the Dash being lined up on centreline and the 350 scoring an exact centreline hit. This has been incredibly close to a repeat of the 737 accident at LAX.

 

[elanshin]

https://x.com/grachan_smile/status/1742125688851939465?s=20

Commentary on the ATC and HND positions.

 

[Basaka]

NHK Just confirmed 5 of the 6 crew of the coast guard dash-8 has perished. RIP

The plane (MA722) was stationed at Sendai for routine maintenance when the 2011 Earthquake hit and was damaged from the tsunami. The plane was the only surviving plane from sendai airport after the quake.

Today the plane was en route to Niigata airport with supplies to aid in the earthquake recovery effort.

To have this occur was extremly unfortunate.

 

[Himeno]

https://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-dh8-656.htm

Looks like the accident happened at the C5 intersection with JA722A being on the runway when they were told to hold short.

 

[brett-au]

I'm interested just how quickly they decided that the doors 2 & 3 were unsafe to open.

 

[AIRwin]

No further movements at HND:

 

[Saab34]

https://www.airfleets.net/ficheapp/plane-dh8-656.htm

Looks like the accident happened at the C5 intersection with JA722A being on the runway when they were told to hold short.

Don’t air traffic control get some form of alert on screens for an impending collision?

 

[AIRwin]

QF59 and NH890 are due into HND from SYD shortly. no sign they've been diverted (yet).

 

[Himeno]

QF59 entered a holding pattern 350kms south of Tokyo.

 

[elanshin]

Don’t air traffic control get some form of alert on screens for an impending collision?

Possibly last seconds runway incursion?

No system is going to help if an aircraft that's supposed to be holding short suddenly enters as another is about to touch down.

I'd imagine the pilots on the JL would be able to see the plane and go around if they entered sooner.

 

[Hvr]

So when is flightaware updated?
It shows QF59 arriving at HND in 30+ minutes.

QF59 (QFA59) Qantas Flight Tracking and History - FlightAware

Track Qantas (QF) #59 flight from Sydney to Tokyo Int'l (Haneda)

www.flightaware.com