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You may have seen the video yesterday. A Japan Airlines flight collided with a Japanese Coast Guard airplane at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport. Within minutes the airliner was completely engulfed in flames.
???? How did all 379 passengers on board this #JapanAirlines flight JA516 survive this?!!
Massive respect to the cabin crew and rescue personnel at Tokyo-Haneda airport.
Humanity shines in times of need.pic.twitter.com/7DFddezq6q
Suraj Balakrishnan (@SurajBala) January 2, 2024
When I saw the video I assumed we were going to be hearing about a massive death toll, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Multiple people in the smaller Coast Guard plane were killed but everyone onboard the Japan Airlines plane made it off safely, nearly 400 people. Outside observers are putting that down to the excellent training by JAL.
…while, tragically, five of six crew on the Japan Coast Guard Dash 8 plane it struck during landing on Tuesday have died, all 379 passengers and crew onboard the Airbus A350 have survived the accident.
While investigations into what happened in the incident, which saw the JAL plane erupt in a fireball, are ongoing, experts say the successful evacuation is down to a combination of modern safety standards and Japan Airlines’ own rigorous safety culture.
“From what I saw on the footage, I was surprised and relieved that everyone got out,” says Graham Braithwaite, professor of safety and accident investigation at the UK’s Cranfield University.
“It’s such a severe impact for any aircraft to have to withstand. But knowing what I know about that airline, and how much effort they put into safety and into crew training, the fact that they did do such a good job shouldn’t be such a surprise.
