Airlines plane in flames on Tokyo runway

Hundreds have been evacuated from a Japan Airlines plane after it burst into flames at Tokyo International Airport, also known as Haneda.

The plane was reportedly involved in a collision with another aircraft after landing on Tuesday, according to local news reports. NHK TV reported that all passengers on board got out safely.

Japan Airlines (JAL) said it believed its plane was hit by another aircraft, possibly a Japan Coast Guard plane. A spokesperson for the airport said all runways were currently closed.

Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area around the wing then caught fire.

Passengers were then shown leaving the aircraft via an emergency chute.

Later video showed fire crews working to put out the blaze with streams of water. The flames had spread to much of the plane.

An explosive fireball could then be seen with the aircraft badly damaged. There was initially no information about possible casualties.

A spokesperson at JAL said the aircraft originated from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido. The airline later confirmed that 379 passengers and crew had safely evacuated.

Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.

Coast Guard later said it is checking reports about a collision between its aircraft and the JAL flight. It had no further details.

After initially saying it was checking the reports, Japan’s Coast Guard later confirmed that the collision involved one of its planes. It also said that five of the the plane’s six crew members had died, according to NHK. The captain is understood to have survived.

Citing local news outlet Nippon TV, journalist Patrick Fok told Al Jazeera that the coast guard plane was carrying aid to Niigata, a city on the west coast, as part of rescue efforts following Monday’s devastating earthquake.

“This really has been a troubling two days and the start of the year for people in Japan,” he added.

Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, said it was still “very early” in terms of trying to grasp what exactly happened.

“As is often the case with such incidents, what it appears [to be the case] in the first couple of minutes and hours, can be very different to what actually happened, and what we learn later in the investigation process,” he told Al Jazeera.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES