Tokyo’s Haneda Airport: Japan Airlines plane engulfed in runway fire incident

Tokyo, The Gulf Observer: Reports from television outlets have indicated that a Japan Airlines aircraft was engulfed in flames on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, seemingly following a collision with a coast guard aircraft. The distressing incident drew attention as the plane caught fire, prompting immediate response and intervention from airport authorities. Details surrounding the circumstances of the collision and subsequent fire remain under investigation, highlighting the urgency of understanding the sequence of events leading to this alarming situation at one of Japan’s busiest airports.

The images on broadcaster NHK showed on Tuesday that the plane moving along the runway before an explosion of orange flames burst from beneath and behind it.

All 367 passengers on board the Airbus plane were evacuated, broadcaster NHK reported.

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but television reports said that the Airbus collided with a Coast Guard aircraft.

Reports said that the plane had just arrived from Sapporo airport on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

A Coast Guard official at Haneda Airport, one of the world’s busiest, said they were “checking details”.

“It’s not clear if there was a collision. But it is certain that our plane is involved,” he said.

The television footage showed flames coming out of windows and the plane’s nose on the ground as rescue workers sprayed it.

There was also burning debris on the runway.

More than 70 fire engines were being deployed, NHK reported.

Japan has not suffered a serious commercial aviation accident in decades.

Its worst ever was in 1985, when a JAL jumbo jet flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashed in the central Gunma region, killing 520 passengers and crew.

That disaster was one of the world’s deadliest plane crashes involving a single flight.