Japan launches probe into Tokyo runway plane crash

Japanese transport officials and police on Wednesday began separate investigations into the fiery collision between a passenger plane and a coast guard aircraft at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

All 379 passengers and crew members aboard the Japan Airlines passenger jet escaped the aircraft within 20 minutes of the crash, while five crew members aboard the coast guard plane died. Only the coast guard pilot was able to escape, but reportedly suffered severe injuries.

The rare collision caused a massive fireball on the runway, with the local fire department deploying at least 70 firetrucks and other vehicles to tackle the blaze, public broadcaster NHK reported. Japan Airlines said the cause was under investigation.

What went wrong?

Both aircrafts said they received a go-ahead from aviation officials to be on the runway. Investigating transport safety officials were focusing on communication between air and traffic control officials and the two aircraft to determine what led to the collision.

Tadayuki Tsutsumi, the Managing Executive Officer at Japan Airlines, told a news conference that the Japan Airlines plane was making a "normal entry and landing" on the runway.

Another executive at the airline, Noriyuki Aoki, said the passenger plane had received permission to land from aviation officials, while telling the coast guard pilot to wait before entering the runway, NHK television reported.

But the coast guard pilot said he also had been given permission to take off. The coast guard said officials were verifying that claim.

Japan Transport Safety Board launches probe

Experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board examined what remained of the charred wreckage of the commercial plane, the board said.

The board added experts would interview the pilots and officials from both sides to find out how the two planes simultaneously ended up on the runway.

Separately, Tokyo police began a probe into possible professional negligence. On Wednesday, police said that investigators examined the debris on the runway and were to interview involved parties.

The Japan Airlines Airbus A350 had flown to Haneda from Shin Chitose airport near the northern Japanese city of Sapporo, and the coast guard Bombardier was preparing to fly out with relief supplies to Niigata prefecture on the country’s west coast for earthquake victims.

Haneda is one of Japan's busiest airports and the second-largest hub serving Tokyo, after Narita airport.

rm/nm (Reuters, AP, dpa)