Japan Airlines jet burst into flames after collision with quake-relief plane

Japan Airlines says its crew was cleared to land by air traffic control before colliding with a Japan Coast Guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Audio from LiveATC.net details the crew of Japan Airlines 516 was cleared to land on runway 34 right. The crew reads back “cleared to land 34 right.” 

After landing, the Japan Air Lines Airbus A350 “collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft and caught fire, the statement added.

Japan Airlines says there were three members of the crew in the cockpit of the flight along with 9 members of the cabin crew. A total of 367 passengers were on the flight — 359 adults and 8 infants. Five people in the Japan Coast Guard Dash 8 were killed.

Incredibly, Japan Air Lines says only one person on board received bruises, but 13 “requested medical consultation due to physical discomfort.”

Japan Airlines and airplane manufacturer Airbus are both part of an investigation into the collision between two aircraft at Haneda airport in Tokyo on Tuesday in which five people died. At the same time, the death toll from Monday's earthquake in western Japan has risen to 57.

Here are the latest headlines:

At least 57 people had been confirmed killed after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the west coast of Japan on Monday, according to local authorities.

The New Year's Day earthquake was the country's largest since 2011.

In March 2011 a 9.1 magnitude earthquake took place 231 miles northeast of Tokyo at a depth of 15.2 miles

The earthquake caused a tsunami with 30-foot waves that damaged several nuclear reactors in the area.

It is the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan.

Here's a look at the history of earthquake's that have happened in Japan:

The French government is scrambling its own crash investigators to Tokyo to probe the collision of a Japan Air Lines flight and a Japanese coast guard plane.

The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, or BEA, says four of its investigators will arrive at Haneda Airport on Wednesday. The agency says it is “participating in the investigation” opened by the Japan Transport Safety Board.

BEA says its investigators will be accompanied by five technical advisers from Airbus, which in 2021 built Airbus A350 that was being operated by Japan Airlines. All 347 passengers and 12 crew members on board evacuated the wide-body jet safely.

Five on board the Japan Coast Guard turboprop — a de Havilland Dash 8 — were killed.

The death toll from the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan’s west coast on Monday has risen to 57, according to Japan public broadcaster NHK, citing officials from Ishikawa prefecture.

The quake shook the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa on Monday afternoon, collapsing buildings, sparking fires and triggering tsunami alerts as far away as eastern Russia.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami advisories along portions of the country’s western coast Tuesday, but more than 24 hours after the quake struck, there has been limited access to the northern part of the secluded Noto Peninsula.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after a disaster emergency meeting Tuesday that a destroyed road had cut access to the area.

Officials in helicopters had flown over the peninsula, known for its coastal scenery and rural landscapes, and reported seeing damaged roads, landslides and large fires, he said.

“To secure the route there, we are to mobilize all the means of transport, not only on the ground but also by aerial and marine transport. We have been making an effort to transfer goods, supplies and personnel there since the last night,” Kishida said.

CNN's Helen Regan, Sahar Akbarzai, Chie Kobayashi and Mayumi Maruyama contributed reporting to this post.

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus said it will send a team to help investigate Tuesday’s collision between a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 and a Japan Coast Guard plane in Tokyo.

“Airbus is presently dispatching a team of specialists to assist the Authorities,” Airbus said in a statement, noting that the investigation will be led by the Japan Transport Safety Board.

Airbus said its A350 aircraft involved in the incident was delivered to Japan Airlines on November 10, 2021. Airbus says the plane was powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

“The exact circumstances of the event are still unknown,” Airbus said.

In the US, National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Jennifer Gabris told CNN that the NTSB has “not received a request for assistance at this time."

The agency would be the official United States representative for such probe.

Japan Airlines passenger Satoshi Yamake, 59, told CNN that everything seemed normal during landing until he saw a fire.

“We landed normally, didn’t feel a shock or anything,” Yamake told CNN at Haneda airport after he was evacuated from the fiery crash.

He said he saw a fire shortly before an announcement was made to evacuate the plane.

“We could smell some smoke but passengers were not panicking a lot," he added.

“I was not really scared. Since we have landed already, I was thinking the plane probably won’t explode by this point," said Yamake.

"We should be fine as long as everyone gets off the plane in an orderly manner.”

Japan Airlines is taking part in the investigation to determine who is responsible for the deadly crash, Tadayuki Tsutsumi, the airlines' senior vice president of corporate safety and security, said in a news conference Tuesday evening.

While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary reports are the pilots of the Japan Airlines flight did not spot any aircraft on the runway before landing, he said. The Japan Airlines flight was confirmed to have “entered the runway as normal and began landing as normal and that there was an impact, which led to the accident, but we are still investigating further details,” he said.

Senior Vice President of Japan Airlines Noriyuki Aoki reiterated that its unclear at this point in the investigation if the Japan Airlines flight was cleared to land or if they communicated with air traffic control, he said the news conference Tuesday evening.

“However, I can't say at this time if they [Japan Airlines aircraft] were cleared to land, or if they communicated with ATC, because that is a fundamental factor in the cause of the accident, and we are still trying to confirm that,” Aoki said.

At least five people on a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) plane were killed when it collided with a Japan Airlines plane carrying hundreds of passengers and burst into flames at Tokyo's Haneda airport.

Japan Airlines said after the crash, four passengers who felt unwell were transported to hospitals but the airline has not received any additional reports of injuries to the passengers on the flight, Senior Vice President of Japan Airlines, Noriyuki Aoki, said in a news conference Tuesday evening. 

The Japan Airlines flight landed at 5:46 pm local time and the crash happened around the same time, he said. 

“We apologize for any inconvenience and concern this may have caused to our customers and all concerned. We pray for the rest of the souls of those who lost their lives aboard the Japanese Coast Guard's equipment and extend our condolences to the bereaved families,” he said. 

The airline is still confirming details with the pilots on what they experienced before the crash. 

“We will provide accompany service to those who have come to Haneda to meet their families,” he said.