Warning lights that tell pilots whether the runway is clear were not working at Haneda Airport the night a Japan Airlines plane caught fire after colliding with a Coast Guard plane, according to official aviation data.
A NOTAM message, a notice containing essential information for pilots and other personnel involved in flight operations, was issued on December 27 to alert pilots that the lighting system was inoperative for the foreseeable future.
It is unclear whether the lack of warning lights on the runway played a role in how the accident occurred. The investigation is ongoing.
Officials look at the burning wreckage of a Japan Airlines passenger plane on the runway of Tokyo International Airport in Haneda, Tokyo, on January 3, 2024.
Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images
When a Japan Airlines plane caught fire on a runway in Tokyo on Tuesday, cabin crew directed hundreds of passengers to exit the plane using loudspeakers and their “voices,” the airline said Wednesday.
The airline said in a press statement that “the plane's announcement system malfunctioned during the evacuation process.”
All 367 passengers and 12 crew members were evacuated after the plane collided with a Japan Coast Guard plane while landing at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. There were eight infants on board the Airbus A350.
In a statement on Wednesday, the airline detailed the moments before and during the landing, saying that the three crew members in the cockpit had received permission to land.
Air traffic control did not allow the Japan Coast Guard plane to enter the runway before the collision, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing transcripts released by Japan's Ministry of Transport on Wednesday. The Japanese airline said that all passengers on board the Japan Airlines plane were evacuated through three emergency exits. The airline said that passengers “successfully carried out an emergency evacuation” as the plane began to catch fire.
At least 14 passengers requested medical consultations. The airline said one person suffered bruising and 13 others sought advice “due to physical discomfort”.
An aerial view shows a burning Japan Airlines Airbus A350 after colliding with a Japan Coast Guard plane at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan, January 3, 2024.
Kyodo via Reuters
Flight JAL516 departed New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Japan, on time at around 3:50 pm on Tuesday. Japan Airlines said it “did not encounter any problems or violations” during its departure or flight. It landed late at 5:47 p.m
“According to interviews with the operating crew, they acknowledged and repeated the landing clearance from air traffic control, and then proceeded with the approach and landing procedures,” Japan Airlines said in a statement.
The plane collided with a Japanese Coast Guard plane, killing five of the six crew members on board, according to Japanese officials. Videos from the scene showed the larger plane catching fire as it taxied down the runway.
People sit amid smoke inside a Japan Airlines A350 plane in this screen capture image obtained from a video on social media.
Social media via Reuters
The airline said that the Airbus plane was a complete loss after it caught fire on the runway.
The plane, registered as JA13XJ, was delivered to Japan Airlines on November 10, 2021, Airbus said in a statement on Tuesday. Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines power the plane.
The French plane manufacturer said it would send a “team of specialists” to Japan to help French and Japanese investigators study the accident.
ABC News' Will Gretzky, Clara McMichael and Sam Sweeney contributed to this story.
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