Investigators are searching for a voice recorder in the badly burned fuselage of a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane after publishing a timetable revealing it took just 18 minutes to evacuate all 379 passengers from the ill-fated flight.
Transportation safety officials are looking into why Collision Between a passenger plane and a small Coast Guard plane on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday.
On Saturday, they used heavy machinery for a second day to remove the burning wreckage of the Airbus A350 and place it in a hangar to allow the runway to reopen. The wreckage of the Coast Guard plane has already been removed.
Burnt remains of a Japan Airlines plane at Haneda Airport. Photo: AP
All 379 people on board Flight 516 were safely evacuated within 18 minutes of landing as the plane burst into flames, something experts and media described as a “miracle.”
The pilot of the Coast Guard plane survived, but his five other crew members died.
The Coast Guard plane was on a mission to deliver relief supplies to survivors Strong earthquakes in central Japan Which claimed the lives of at least 100 people.
There was speculation that controllers may not have noticed the presence of the Coast Guard plane on the runway when they gave the JAL plane permission to land.
Local broadcaster NHK reported that footage from its surveillance camera at the airport showed the Coast Guard plane taxied to the runway and stopped for about 40 seconds before impact.
In the footage, the Coast Guard plane entered the runway from taxiway C5, and shortly afterwards the passenger plane landed directly behind it and collided with it, creating an orange fireball.
The JAL Airlines plane, engulfed in flames and spewing gray smoke, continues down the runway before coming to a stop about 1 km (0.62 miles) away.
The plane caught fire on the runway at Haneda Airport. Photo: AP
Photo: NTV/AP
“Miracle” evacuation operation
The JAL flight crew began its emergency response, but the usual in-cabin announcement system had malfunctioned, according to the airline, and the crew shouted into the loudspeaker to make sure all passengers heard their instructions.
Flight attendants urged passengers to remain calm and leave their luggage behind as they made their way towards the nearest of the only three usable exits – two at the front and a third at the back – as five others were deemed unsafe.
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Inside the Japan Airlines plane as it caught fire
A survivor's video shows smoke filling the cabin as people feel desperate, with some screaming “Please let us out!” When babies start crying.
Many others remained calm and followed instructions to leave the burning plane in emergency chutes.
The captain made sure no one was left in the cabin and was the last to leave the plane 18 minutes after landing.
Read more:
Japan plane fire: what happened
Small Coast Guard plane 'not approved for takeoff'
The Japan Airlines plane was seen on fire on the runway. Photo: AP
Experts investigate minutes before the collision
Experts from the Japan Transportation Safety Board secured flight and audio data recorders from a Coast Guard Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft and a flight data recorder from a JAL plane to find out what happened in the last few minutes before the fatal collision.
a A copy of recorded communications Traffic control issued by the Department of Transportation on Wednesday showed that the controller asked the Coast Guard plane to move to a parking position just before the runway, saying it had departure priority one.
The Coast Guard pilot repeats the instructions and then thanks them for the top spot. There were no further instructions from the watch allowing the Coast Guard to enter the runway.
The pilot told police investigators that his plane was bombed while he was starting the engines after receiving clearance to take off.
The small lights on board the Coast Guard plane and its 40-second stop may have made it less visible to JAL pilots and air traffic control.
NHK also said surveillance officials may have missed the alert system for unauthorized entry into the runway while they were engaged in other operations.
