A JAPAN Airlines aircraft was engulfed in flames at Tokyo’s Haneda airport yesterday after a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft, with the airline saying that all 379 passengers and crew had been evacuated.

According to NHK, one person aboard the Coast Guard aircraft escaped, while the remaining five were killed.

Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the aircraft erupt in flames as it skidded down the tarmac and fire crews feverishly trying to extinguish the fire.

NHK reported citing the Tokyo Fire Department saying that the Japan Airlines flight, an Airbus A350 aircraft, which departed from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido Prefecture just after 4 p.m. local time yesterday, collided with an aircraft from the Japan Coast Guard. The aircraft was involved in earthquake relief efforts.

All crew members and passengers, including eight children under the age of 2, on board JAL Flight 516 were safely evacuated from the passenger plane, according to the airline, but five of six people on the other plane were reported killed.

The second aircraft was thought to be a De Havilland Canada DHC-8, operated by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). NHK said the plane’s captain was in a critical condition.

(CGTN, Agencies)