Japan Airlines Flight 516 landed at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport around 5:47 p.m. on January 2, 2024. Shortly after landing on Runway C, Flight 516 collided with a Japan Coast Guard plane, causing both aircraft to catch fire. The Coast Guard aircraft carried six people; five of the six crew died, and the captain was seriously injured. The JAL flight had 367 passengers and 12 crew members; all escaped, and 14 were injured. The evacuation of everyone from the JAL flight within 18 minutes was praised as a “miracle.”
Rapid response in the face of danger
According to Sankei Shimbun, at 5:47 p.m. local time on the evening of the 2nd, a JAL passenger plane landed and caught fire. The crew and passengers evacuated the burning plane using the escape slides, and at 6:05 p.m., all 379 people on board (367 passengers and 12 crew members) were evacuated from the burning plane, completing the evacuation in 18 minutes. The aircraft exploded 10 minutes after the evacuation, and the fire burned for more than six hours before being extinguished at midnight.
Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, commented that the crew conducted a “textbook evacuation” in the first few critical minutes after the plane landed. He also mentioned that in the first 90 seconds, the fire was contained within an area of the Airbus A350, allowing the crew to evacuate the entire aircraft. The crew knew exactly which exits were further away from the fire, which is why the evacuation video shows that not all the exits were opened for passengers to escape.
Official 4-minute communication released: Tower did not authorize Coast Guard aircraft entry
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) released a 4-minute recording between the air traffic controller and the two planes before the accident. According to The Asahi Shimbun, call records show that the tower instructed the Coast Guard plane to taxi to holding point C5, and the Coast Guard aircraft repeated the information back. The tower did not instruct the Coast Guard aircraft to enter the runway or to take off. The Coast Guard pilot said after the accident that he had received the permission to take off. This information is different from what the MLIT currently has.
Pilot’s daughter shares her father’s advice in an emergency evacuation
In response to this incident, a Japanese woman shared the three most important things that her pilot father advised her in case of an emergency evacuation.
Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) user @Blackymarine posted on the evening of the 2nd:
“As the daughter of an airline pilot, I would like to reiterate what my father has been telling me since I was a child.
Stay awake during takeoff and landing.
Keep your shoes on during takeoff and landing.
Never get on the plane in heels.
Twenty percent of aircraft accidents occur during takeoff and 50 percent during landing. Therefore, being able to get off the aircraft quickly could make the difference between life and death.”
Her post also reminded people that it is important to check the emergency exit locations and to keep the seatbelt fastened during the flight.
Translated by Elaine
