Five people were killed after a Japanese coastguard plane collided with a Japan Airlines passenger jet at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday, authorities have announced.
Japan's Transport Minister Testsuo Saito confirmed the death toll and said the coastguard pilot was able to escape the crash.
The Japan Airlines jet was filmed moving along the runway before exploding into flames. The airline said 379 people on board, including passengers and crew, were evacuated.
The coastguard said its aircraft was on its way to Niigata Airport to deliver aid to the earthquake-hit Noto Peninsula region, a day after a series of strong earthquakes shook Japan's main island of Honshu and prompted the highest tsunami warnings in the country since 2011.
At least 48 people were killed in the 7.5-magnitude quake that hit Ishikawa prefecture, triggering metre-high tsunami waves and tearing roads apart.
The footage showed flames emanating from windows and the plane's nose on the ground as firefighters sprayed the burning plane.
There was also burning debris on the runway.
-
Officials inspect the wreckage of a Japan Airlines passenger plane at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda in Tokyo, the morning after it hit a coastguard plane on the ground. AFP -
Investigators sift through the remains of a coastguard plane after a collision with Japan Airlines' Airbus A350 at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo. Reuters -
The burnt Japan Airlines' Airbus A350 plane. Reuters -
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks about the incident. EPA -
The Japan Airlines plane burns on the runway in Tokyo. AP -
Passengers mask up as smoke fills the Japan Airlines plane after it collided with a coastguard aircraft on the ground at Tokyo's Haneda airport. Reuters -
People sit in the smoke inside the Japan Airlines' A350. Reuters -
The Japan Airlines plane burns out on the runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. AP -
The Japan Airlines plane burns on the runway at Haneda Airport. AP
A representative at Japan Airlines said the plane had left Shin-Chitose Airport on the northern island of Hokkaido.
Haneda has closed all runways after the incident, a representative for the airport said.
