Five killed, hundreds evacuated after planes collide at Japanese airport

Officials canceled the majority of flights in and out of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday after a Japan Airlines passenger plane and a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft collided on the runway. The crash killed five of the six crew on the Coast Guard plane, while all 379 passengers and crew evacuated the larger craft before flames consumed it, said Japanese Transportation Minister Tetsuo Saito. Japanese authorities and airline officials are investigating how the accident happened. The plane’s manufacturer, Airbus, said it was sending specialists to help.

Where was the other plane going? The smaller Coast Guard aircraft was reportedly prepared to deliver aid to Japan’s west coast, where an earthquake struck Monday afternoon. A 7.5 magnitude quake killed at least 55 people and caused widespread damage. The Coast Guard pilot managed to escape the crash, Saito said.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger and Onize Ohikere’s report in WORLD Magazine about a major earthquake in Turkey and Syria last year.