Japan Airlines Plane Collides with Coast Guard Plane, Killing Five Crew Members

A Japan Airlines plane caught fire after colliding with a Japanese Coast Guard plane while landing at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday, but all 379 passengers on board were safely evacuated.

Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported that five of the six crew members on the Coast Guard plane were killed.

The Coast Guard said that one of its planes, which was en route to Niigata Airport on Japan’s west coast to deliver aid to earthquake victims, collided with a passenger plane.

Reuters reported that images circulating on social media showed passengers screaming and fleeing the smoke-filled cabin.

Japanese officials said that an investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.

The collision comes just a day after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Japan’s northeastern coast, killing at least 48 people and injuring more than 1,000.