Japan airplane crash: Investigators trying to find voice recorder as timeline reveals airplane evacuated in simply 18 minutes

Jan 06, 2024 at 7:13 PM
Japan airplane crash: Investigators trying to find voice recorder as timeline reveals airplane evacuated in simply 18 minutes

Investigators are trying to find a voice recorder within the severely burned fuselage of a Japan Airlines (JAL) airplane after a timeline was launched revealing it took simply 18 minutes to evacuate all 379 passengers from the stricken flight.

Transport security officers are wanting into what induced the collision between the passenger jet and a small coastguard airplane on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday.

On Saturday they used heavy equipment for a second day to take away particles of the burned Airbus A350 right into a hangar to permit the runway to reopen. The wreckage from the coastguard airplane has already been cleared.

The burnt-out remains of the Japan Airlines plane at Haneda airport. Pic: AP
Image:
The burnt-out stays of the Japan Airlines airplane at Haneda airport. Pic: AP

All 379 occupants of JAL Flight 516 had been safely evacuated inside 18 minutes of touchdown because the plane was engulfed in flames, one thing specialists and the media have described as “a miracle”.

The pilot of the coastguard airplane survived however his 5 different crewmembers died.

The coastguard plane was on a mission to ship aid items to survivors of powerful earthquakes in central Japan which killed no less than 100 folks.

There has been hypothesis controllers might not have paid consideration to the coastguard airplane’s presence on the runway once they gave the JAL airplane permission to land.

Local broadcaster NHK reported that footage from its monitoring digital camera on the airport confirmed the coastguard airplane moved to the runway and stopped for about 40 seconds earlier than the collision.

In the footage the coastguard plane enters the runway from the C5 taxiway, then shortly afterwards the passenger airplane touches down proper behind and rams into it, creating an orange fireball.

The JAL airliner, coated with flames and spewing gray smoke, continues down the runway earlier than coming to a cease round 1km (0.62 miles) away.

The plane on fire on the runway of Haneda airport. Pic: AP
Image:
The airplane on hearth on the runway of Haneda airport. Pic: AP

Pic: NTV/AP
Image:
Pic: NTV/AP

A ‘miracle’ evacuation

The JAL flight crew started its emergency response however the standard cabin announcement system had malfunctioned, in keeping with the airline, and the crew shouted right into a megaphone to ensure all passengers heard their directions.

Flight attendants urged passengers to remain calm and depart their belongings behind whereas making their approach in the direction of the closest of the one three usable exits – two ahead ones and the third on the rear – as 5 others had been deemed unsafe.

Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant

Inside the Japan Airlines flight because it caught hearth

A survivor’s video exhibits smoke filling the cabin as folks develop determined, with some shouting “please let us out!” as youngsters start to cry.

Many others remained calm and adopted directions to go away the burning airplane on emergency chutes.

The captain ensured no person was left behind within the cabin and was the final to go away the plane 18 minutes after landing.

Read extra:
Japan plane fire: What happened
Small coastguard jet ‘wasn’t cleared for take-off’

The Japan Airlines plane is seen on fire on the runway. Pic: AP
Image:
The Japan Airlines airplane is seen on hearth on the runway. Pic: AP

Experts investigating minutes earlier than collision

Experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board have secured the flight and voice knowledge recorders from the coastguard’s Bombardier Dash-8 airplane and a flight knowledge recorder from the JAL jet to seek out out what occurred in the previous few minutes earlier than the deadly collision.

A transcript of recorded communication at visitors management launched by the transport ministry on Wednesday confirmed the controller instructed the coastguard airplane to taxi to a holding place simply earlier than the runway, saying it had the primary departure precedence.

Japan plane crash transcript
Japan plane crash transcript
Japan plane crash transcript

The coastguard pilot repeats the instruction after which thanks them for the highest slot. There was no additional instruction from management permitting the coastguard to enter the runway.

The pilot instructed police investigators his plane was struck simply as he powered up the engines after acquiring clearance to take off.

Officials investigate a burnt Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan January 3, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

The small lights on the coastguard plane and its 40-second cease might have made it much less seen to the JAL pilots and air visitors management.

NHK additionally mentioned management officers might have missed an alert system for unauthorised runway entry whereas participating in different operations.