Pilots 'didn't know plane was on fire' when they landed in jaw-dropping video
The pilots in the cockpit of the plane that erupted into an inferno after colliding with a smaller aircraft had no idea it was on fire as they landed.
Flight S16 collided with a at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday when it landed on the tarmac. All 379 passengers of Airlines flight JAL516 got out safely before the plane was entirely engulfed in flames but five died in the smaller aircraft. Emergency vehicles raced along the tarmac to deal with the pulsing inferno.
National broadcaster NHK reports the pilots in the cockpit had no idea about the fire until they were told by the cabin crew. At the time, the cabin was filling with smoke as temperatures increased
Shocking TV broadcast images showed plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the air as the plane taxied on the runway. Another video showed the moment the jumbo suddenly snapped in two as the molten steel broke due to the searing temperatures. The coast guard plane was on its way to deliver desperately-needed aid packages to areas affected by the earlier earthquakes, toppling buildings and leaving countless residents trapped under the rubble, when the collision happened. Its pilot was the only survivor of the six on board.
The Japan Airlines plane on fire on a runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)Anton Deibe, 17, who was travelling on the Japan Airlines plane with his parents and sister, said the plane became like "hell" when the blaze took hold. He told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes”.
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He said: “We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them. The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was hell. We have no idea where we are going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos.”
The burnt remains of the plane the next day (AFP via Getty Images)Haneda is one of Japan's busiest airports and a key travel hub for people travelling across the country during the New Year holidays. The fire comes following an incredibly safe year for commercial aviation, as fewer aircraft accidents and deaths were recorded in 2023 than ever before. In the previous 12 months, there were only two fatal accidents compared with six in 2022, according to the Independent.
According to flight-tracking service, Flight Radar 24, the accident took place at exactly 5.47pm as the Japan Airlines flight came in to land. The coastguard aircraft is a De Havilland DHC-8-315Q MPA - more commonly known as a Bombardier Dash-8 - which was not fitted with a modern ADS-B transponder.
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