Five Persons Dead As Japanese Coastguard Plane Collides With Passenger Plane

Five people aboard a Japanese coastguard plane have been confirmed dead following a collision at Tokyo Haneda Airport with a passenger plane.

All 379 passengers on the Japanese passenger airline that caught fire after the collision were evacuated safely.

The coastguard plane was heading towards the earthquake-hit areas of Japan to deliver aid when the incident occurred.

Passengers fled the Airbus A350 and ran across the tarmac. The maker of the A350 passenger plane, Airbus, has released a statement and said it is in contact with Japanese Airlines operating the plane.

Airbus also pledged to “communicate further details when available.”

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The Japanese minister for transport, Tetsuo Saito, also confirmed the incident at the Tokyo Haneda Airport during a news conference.

“Japan Airlines informed Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau that 379 people, including 367 passengers and 12 crew members, had been safely evacuated,” the minister said.

“Regarding the coastguard plane, one captain was evacuated, but five other crew members were confirmed dead.”

Information from Reuters says Saito hopes that the Haneda Airport runways could open “by tomorrow, or even within today.’’

Tokyo, Japan’s capital city, is one of the busiest places on the globe, and the transport minister’s hopes are not surprising.

The collision is the second disaster to hit Japan in 2024 after a heavy earthquake hit the central region of the country on Monday.

Residents of the coastal Noto area have been urged to immediately evacuate as fears of a major tsunami loom.