Terrifying footage shows the moment a Japan Airlines plane became engulfed in flames.
JAL flight 516 had flown from New Chitose airport, Japan, to Tokyo's Haneda Airport where it burst into flames on the runway. You can see footage of the fire here:
Some passengers managed to get footage of what was happening outside the plane as smoke poured from the aircraft.
Advert
Japan Airlines said that 367 passengers and 12 crew members were safely evacuated from the burning plane, with passengers using the aircraft's inflatable slides to get onto the runway.
Swedish national Anton Deibe, 17, who was a passenger on the Japan Airlines plane, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that ‘the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes’.
He said: “We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them. The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell.
“We have no idea where we are going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos.”
Following the successful evacuation, passengers were seen gathered on an observation deck at the airport watching the blaze.
Former commercial pilot Roger Whitefield told Sky News it was a ‘miracle’ everyone was safely evacuated.
He told the news outlet: "We have just witnessed a miracle. The way they got all those passengers off that aeroplane is almost beyond belief.”
He added: "For the crew to get all the passengers out, it's a miracle. There's no two ways about it.”
Fire crews are still attempting to get the flames under control, according to the BBC.
A spokesperson for Japan's coast guard confirmed that the passenger plane collided with one of their aircraft, which had been due to fly to Niigata to provide earthquake relief.
It has since been reported that five people who were on board the coast guard plane have died, AFP news agency quotes Japan's transport minister as saying.
The coast guard’s aircraft was on its way to deliver aid to the Noto peninsula following an earthquake on New Year’s Day that has killed at least 48 people.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took to X to say that he wants to ensure officials ‘quickly ascertain the damage situation’ and that he will ‘strive to provide appropriate information to the public’.
Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.
All flights from Haneda Airport have been suspended for the time being in the wake of the fire which engulfed the aircraft.
Topics: World News
Claire Reid