Japan Airlines collision and fire at Tokyo Haneda.
January 2nd 2024: JAL flight 516 was cleared to land on Runway 34Right at Haneda Airport and almost as soon as the main wheels hit the runway the Airbus A350 hit a DeHavilland DHC-8 that had lined up on the same runway in preparation for take-off.
The Airbus instantly caught fire and the DHC-8 was operated by the Japanese Coastguard and was largely destroyed, killing five of the six people on board; the captain being the only survivor. The aircraft had been loaded with aid supplies for the earthquake victims on the north west coast of Japan.
The Airbus had a total of 379 people on board, including the crew and all evacuated safely before the aircraft was totally engulfed by fire and destroyed as a result.
Commercial airliners must meet certification requirements by demonstrating that all passengers can be evacuated within 90 seconds with only 60% of exits usable. The well trained and disciplined JAL crew showed how it should be done and the passengers themselves deserve praise for obeying commands and leaving all bags on board. This is an often-breached rule of evacuations, which can seriously hamper passenger escape.
The ATC transcripts appear to confirm that the instructions issued by the controller to the coastguard aircraft were correct and even read back correctly by the Dash 8 Crew. They were cleared to taxi to holding point C5 (Charlie five) a runway intersection but they entered the active runway. Why is yet to be determined.