Japan Airlines inferno: Coastguard plane did not have clearance for take-off, transcripts suggest
Japan airlines
Japanese authorities on Wednesday (Jan 3) said that a passenger jet which collided with a Coast Guard turboprop while landing at a Tokyo airport was given permission to land, however, the smaller plane was not given the clearance for take-off, as per control tower transcripts.
All 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 were safely evacuated as the plane erupted in flames aftercrashing with a De Havilland Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop at Haneda airport.
However, five out of six Coast Guard crew, who were about to depart on a flight for relief work in response toa major earthquake on Japan's west coast, died and the captain was badly injured.
The Japan Safety Transport Board (JTSB) has started investigating the incident and itremains unclear how the crash happened and how the two aircraft were present on the same runaway.
Coast Guard aircraft asked to 'taxi to a holding point'
As per the transcripts of traffic control instructions given by the authorities, the Japan Airlines jet was granted permission to land, however, the Coast Guard aircraft was asked to taxi to a holding point close to the runway.
Japan's civil aviation bureau's official, while speaking to the reporters, said that there was no indication regarding any permission granted to the Coast Guard aircraft to take off in those transcripts.
As per the turboprop plane's captain, he had received permission to enter the runway, said a Coast Guard official, while accepting that no such indication was present in the transcripts.
"The transport ministry is submitting objective material and will fully cooperate with the ... investigation to ensure we work together to take all possible safety measures to prevent a recurrence," said Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito, while speaking to reporters.
The authorities said that the JTSB recovered the voice recorder present inside the Coast Guard aircraft. The minister said that the incident is “still being investigated” and said that the next step will be to listen to the audio recordings of the conversation which took place between the flight control tower and the Coast Guard pilot.
Pilots did not see 'fire' from cockpit
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The pilots, as the Japan Airlines plane burst into flames, had no "visual contact" with the other aircraft with which it collided, said the airlines on Thursday (Jan 4).
The three pilots were not able to see the fire while sitting inside the cockpit when it first broke out and the cabin crew informed them, said a JAL spokesman, while speaking to AFP.
Watch:Japan jet crash: More details emerge from Air Traffic Communications
The pilots said only one of them spotted "an object" just before impact, as per JAL.
"After the plane landed and around the time when the front wheels touched or were about to touch the ground -- during those few seconds, they said they felt an impact," said the spokesman.
Meanwhile, the chief flight attendant – who was among the nine onboard – informed in the cockpit that the plane had caught fire as the cabin crew required permission to open the emergency exits, reported broadcaster NHK.
(With inputs from agencies)