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Terrifying moments unfolded at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on January 2, evening, as a Japan Airlines plane with 379 passengers and crew onboard burst into flames after landing, triggering confusion and panic among the passengers as flames erupted and smoke filled the cabin.
Initial reports were grim. Footage captured by passengers showed a ball of fire erupting from the aircraft, with flames spreading rapidly. Chaos reigned inside, with babies crying, people begging for escape, and the cabin filling with smoke and heat.
In one harrowing video clip, a young voice pleads desperately, “Please let us out. Please open it. Just open it. Oh, god.”
“The smell of smoke was in the air, and the doors were not opening. So I think everyone panicked,” a woman told AFP at the airport.
“Honestly, I thought we wouldn’t survive. So I texted my family and friends to say that my plane is burning, right now,” another woman told broadcaster NHK.
The chief flight attendant, one of nine on board, informed the cockpit that the plane was on fire, indicating that the cabin crew required permission to open the emergency exits, according to NHK.
There were eight emergency exits. However, the evacuation was done from two slides at the front of the plane for a safer exit, as per JAL. Only one other exit, at the rear left, was deemed safe, but the intercom system malfunctioned, preventing the cockpit from giving the go-ahead. Urgency prevailed, and the crew in the back opened the rear door, using megaphones and their own voices to guide passengers.
The entire evacuation process took 18 minutes, with the pilot being the last person to set foot on the tarmac at 6:05 pm. Shortly thereafter, the entire aircraft became an inferno, prompting an eight-hour effort by dozens of fire engines to extinguish the blaze.
At least one pet dog and one cat had to be left on the plane and died, the airline added.
Passengers on board displayed remarkable adherence to evacuation protocols, leaving their cabin bags behind. Tragically, at least one pet dog and one cat had to be left on the plane and did not survive, according to the airline, according to a report by AFP.
On January 2, the transport ministry released transcripts of the flight controllers’ communications, confirming the approval of the JAL flight’s landing, as reported by media sources. However, reports indicated that the Coast Guard plane had been directed to a location near the runway.
Earlier the same day, Genki Miyamoto, the 39-year-old pilot, claimed immediate permission to take off following the accident, as per NHK.
Japan has not witnessed a significant commercial air crash in decades. The last notable incident occurred in 1985 when a JAL jumbo jet travelling from Tokyo to Osaka crashed, resulting in the tragic loss of 520 passengers and crew members, marking one of the deadliest single-flight crashes globally.
Another catastrophic aviation disaster transpired on the ground in 1977 when two Boeing 747s collided at Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, claiming the lives of 583 people.
(With Inputs from AFP)
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Published: 04 Jan 2024, 11:23 AM IST
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