January 2nd, 2024, Japanese airline flight JAL-516 caught on fire at the Haneda airport after colliding with a smaller Coast Guard aircraft that was supposed to deliver aid to Central Japan, damaged by an earthquake. JAL-516 took eighteen minutes to evacuate 379 passengers with only minor injuries; five of the smaller aircraft’s six passengers died. The Capitan being the only survivor.
Two minutes before landing, airport traffic control told JAL-516 that it was allowed to land on runway 34R, with the pilot communicating back that it was “cleared to land”. 10 seconds later, the Coast Guard plane checked in with traffic control that it was on the way to the same runway. Air traffic control replied, “Taxi to holding point C5”, then proceeded to say they have No. 1 departure priority. After repeating directions again, the pilot replied “Thank you”. This was the last communication attempt between the two planes and air traffic control station before the crash.
Holding point C5 is a stop line right before runway 34R, the same runway JAL-516 was cleared to land on. In the following two minutes, the Coast Guard plane started to move from C5 onto the runway when they were not cleared for takeoff. JAL-516 spotted the coastal plane about forty seconds before touching down, but by then it was too late to do anything and they crashed into the back of the smaller plane, causing both planes to set on fire.
It took only eighteen minutes to evacuate 379 passengers out of the bigger plane which was engulfed in flames. JAL-516 perfectly executed the emergency response protocol, and did so swiftly enough that not a single person died on that plane. Experts say the coastal pilot mistook the term “ No. 1” for permission to take off.
It took eight hours for the fire to be fully extinguished. Hundreds of flights were canceled including holiday flights. Tetsuo Saito, Japan’s Transport Minister says he plans to open a new spot on the Air traffic control team to monitor aircraft movement on the runways from here on out to ensure this never happens again. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says, “ This is a great regret as the crew members performed their duties with a strong sense of mission and responsibility for the victims of the disaster area.”
