Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 plane crash
Tokyo, Japan
Updated on
The Airbus A350-900 operated by JAL Japan Airlines took off from Sapporo, Japan, for a passenger flight to Tokyo, Japan. 367 passengers and 12 crewmembers were onboard. The A350 landed on Tokyo airport in nighttime conditions but collided with Japanese Coast Guard aircraft on the runway upon touchdown. The nose landing gear collapsed and the A350 burst into flames. The A350 came to a stop down on the runway and was evacuated. All the 379 occupants escaped, and the A350 burned down. 17 occupants of the A350 received injuries. The Coast Guard aircraft also burst into flames: its captain was seriously injured, and the five other occupants were killed.
The coast guard aircraft was a DHC-8-300. Its was on its way to transport supplies to Niigata Air Base in response to the earthquake that happened in Japan the day before.
According to the ATC transcript, The Coast guards DHC-8 was instructed to taxi to holding point C1. The crew was thus supposed to wait at this point, which is located just before entering the runway 34R. 1 minute and 30 seconds later, the JAL A350 was cleared to land on the runway 34R. For unknown reason, the Coast guards DHC-8 entered the runway 34R and waited there. There were three pilots in the JAL A350 cockpit, none of them was able to see the DH8C, therefore a go around was never considered. The A350 landed on runway 34R and collided with the Coast Guard DHC-8.
The weather conditions at the time of the accident were good, with good visibility, few clouds, and low wind.
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