Japanese investigators gathered Wednesday around the charred remains of a passenger plane that exploded in a fireball on the runway the day before, with police blaming simple negligence for the raging fire at one of the country's largest airlines. We are investigating whether this is the case. airport.
Photos from Haneda Airport showed that only the wings and tail of the JAL plane remained on the runway after it went up in flames.
The charred cockpit was completely separated from the rest of the burnt-out Airbus A350, from which 379 passengers and 12 crew members miraculously escaped.
The plane collided with a Coast Guard jet while landing at Tokyo airport on Tuesday, killing five military personnel who were helping victims of the deadly earthquake.
Officials now say the plane was cleared to land, but air traffic controllers told the Coast Guard pilot to “stand by.”
Air traffic control communications recorded about five minutes before the crash show that controllers instructed the Japan Airlines flight to “continue its approach” to Runway C when it arrived at about 5:47 p.m.
The Japan Airlines crew then “recognized and repeated” the command before heading to the runway, aviation officials stressed in a news release.
The Coast Guard crew said they were then taxiing to the same runway and that air traffic controllers told them to proceed to the stop line before reaching the runway.
The controller noted that the Coast Guard plane had priority departure and the pilot moved to the stop line.
However, takeoff clearance was not issued.
Coast Guard officials claimed the plane had been given permission to enter the runway and prepare for takeoff, but acknowledged that records do not show that. This was reported by Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Transportation authorities are currently investigating, focusing on communications between air traffic control personnel and two flight crew members.
Japan's Transportation Safety Board said investigators will interview pilots and officials from both sides, as well as air traffic control officials, to determine how the two planes ended up on the runway.
Supported by British and French aviation experts.
Meanwhile, local police are investigating whether there was any professional negligence.
“There is a high possibility that human error played a role in this,” said Hiroyuki Kobayashi, a former Japan Airlines pilot and aviation analyst. Guardian.
“Normally only one aircraft can enter the runway, but a Japan Coast Guard aircraft was on the runway even though it had been cleared to land.”
Of the Coast Guard crew members aboard the Bombardier Dash-8 maritime patrol aircraft, only Col. Genki Moto, 39, survived the collision. He reportedly pulled himself up from the wreckage before radioing for help.
The 14 people on board the plane were also treated at local hospitals.
Japan Airlines officials said in a news release that one person had bruises and 13 others sought medical attention “due to physical discomfort.”
They told how crew members had to use megaphones and “their own voices” to guide 379 passengers off the plane and onto an emergency slide after the plane's announcement system malfunctioned.
“Within a few minutes, the whole cabin was filled with smoke,” Swedish passenger Anton Deibe, 17, told Aftonbladet.
“We fell on the floor. Then the emergency door opened and we threw ourselves into it.”
Footage and images shared on social media showed passengers screaming in the smoke-filled cabin, fleeing down the evacuation slide and running across the tarmac.
A passenger on the JAL plane told Kyodo News, “The moment the plane landed, I felt a thud, as if it had hit something, and it bounced upwards.'' “I saw sparks outside the window and the cabin was filled with gas and smoke.”
According to the Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed related organizations to coordinate to assess the damage situation.
Comes with post wire.
