Described: The Amazing Escape of 379 Passengers from a Japan Jet Fireball

New Delhi: In one of the worst aviation mishaps in the nation’s history, a Japan Airlines aircraft that was carrying passengers from the northern city of Sapporo to Tokyo’s Haneda airport caught fire on Tuesday. Shortly after landing, the Airbus A350 struck a smaller Coast Guard aircraft, causing a blaze that killed five Coast Guard crewmen.

The manner in which a coast guard aircraft almost collided with a passenger flight that was getting ready to arrive at Haneda Airport is a mystery to Japanese authorities. According to the airline in question, the plane was cleared for landing.

It has been said that what happened after the crash was nothing short of miraculous: all 379 occupants of the aircraft, including the crew, were able to escape without any injuries.

However, how did they get away?

Satoshi Yamake, a 59-year-old employee in the telecom industry, was on board and was on his way back to the capital after seeing family, according to news agency Reuters. His excitement at seeing his wife again after the plane landed was dashed when he heard a noise and a rattle in the cabin and saw flames outside his window.

As the airline suggests, the pilot probably couldn’t see the smaller Coast Guard aircraft below, even though he had clearance to land. The incident happened just after landing at 5:46 pm (0846 GMT). The peculiar circumstances surrounding the collision are now being looked at by authorities.

The evacuation and rescue efforts were nothing short of amazing, given the gravity of the situation. According to a report by Reuters, the Coast Guard plane’s 39-year-old captain, Genki Miyamoto, was able to escape the debris and radioed his base to report the explosion that occurred on the runway. Smoke swiftly filled the passenger jet’s interior. Nevertheless, what would have been a disaster was averted by the crew’s quick thinking and the effectiveness of the evacuation plans.

A youngster begs for the doors to be opened, and one passenger can be heard screaming for assistance in video footage released by Reuters. Tokyo resident Tsubasa Sawada, 28, described feeling certain he was going to die at the beginning of the fire. He did, however, point out that in spite of the first fear, the crew quickly set up evacuation chutes to guarantee that people could leave in a systematic manner.

According to Sawada, “I really thought I was going to die,” as reported by Reuters. “After the accident happened, I was laughing a bit at first when I could see some sparks coming out (of the engine) but when the fire started, I realised it was more than just something.”

Social media site X has footage of the airplane coming to a stop on its nose, with thick black smoke pouring from the back and a ball of flames bursting from below.

115 units engaged in a large firefighting operation outside the aircraft, working nonstop to contain the fire that began at the rear of the aircraft and finally spread throughout the whole thing. From a flaming airliner, passengers could be seen down inflatable slides. Amazingly, the jet came to rest in less than 20 minutes, and all of the passengers were evacuated.