On the 2nd, a passenger plane and a Coast Guard aircraft collided at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, killing five people.
According to the Associated Press, Japan Airlines Flight JAL-516, which departed from New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido, crashed with Flight MA722, a member of the Coast Security Agency, after landing on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, causing a fire. The fire was extinguished in about six hours.
Japan’s Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito said all 379 people aboard JAL-516 escaped, and of six people aboard the Coast Security Agency aircraft, one pilot escaped and five died.
The Coast Security Agency aircraft was on its way to the Noto Peninsula where the earthquake was loaded with relief supplies.
Part of the runway at Haneda Airport was closed and a number of flights were canceled due to the accident. Local authorities are scheduled to investigate the accident.
SOPHIA KIM
USASIA JOURNAL
