Passenger jet in fiery crash at Haneda airport was cleared to land, Japan Airlines says

In a recording from the control tower apparently taken before impact, a voice can be heard advising JAL’s flight to ‘continue approach’

A passenger jet that collided with a coast guard plane in a catastrophic accident at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport had been given permission to land, Japan Airlines executives have said, as police reportedly prepared to investigate whether the crash involved professional negligence.

Five people on the coast guard aircraft died in Tuesday’s crash, but all 379 passengers and crew escaped to safety down emergency slides minutes before the Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames.

Aviation experts have praised the crew, saying their actions helped avert a far worse outcome.

Asked at a briefing late on Tuesday whether the Japan Airlines flight had secured landing permission from air traffic control, officials at the major carrier said: “Our understanding is that it was given.”

But JAL and the land ministry declined to comment directly on exchanges between flight controllers and the two planes, citing the ongoing investigation.

In a recording from Haneda’s control tower apparently taken in the moments before the collision, available on a site that broadcasts live air traffic signals, a voice can be heard advising JAL’s flight to “continue approach”.

Authorities began inspecting the charred wreckage and runway for clues as Haneda reopened three of its four runways on Wednesday. On the closed runway, the burned-out husk of the airliner bore witness to just how close the plane came to disaster.

The captain of the coast guard plane – which had been carrying aid to the region affected by the powerful earthquake on New Year’s Day – was its lone survivor but suffered serious injuries. Five others on the plane died.

Footage on Tuesday showed a ball of fire erupting and thick black smoke coming from underneath the airliner shortly after it landed and came to a halt on its nose after its front landing gear failed.

Passengers could be seen sliding down inflatable slides as flames shot out from the rear of the aircraft in video posted to the social media platform X.

As the plane was evacuated, dozens of fire engines tried to douse the flames but the entire plane was soon engulfed and it took eight hours to finally extinguish the blaze.

“As soon as we landed, there was a bang. And I noticed a blaze rising from the right side,” a female passenger told the public broadcaster NHK.

“It was getting hot inside the plane, and, to be honest, I thought I wouldn’t survive.”

A woman with a small child told NHK: “I thought we landed normally. But then I realised I was smelling smoke. I looked outside and it was already burning. I needed to protect my daughter. That was only thing on my mind.”

Government officials pledged to investigate how the incident happened. Before Tuesday, Japan had not experienced a serious commercial aviation accident for decades. The crash came just weeks after the global airline industry was given new warnings about runway safety.

Local media reports said that police would conduct an investigation into whether possible professional negligence had led to deaths and injuries. A police spokesperson said a special investigation unit had been set up at the airport, but declined to comment on whether they were looking into possible professional negligence.

“There’s a strong possibility this involved human error,” said Hiroyuki Kobayashi, a former JAL pilot and aviation analyst. “Only one plane is generally allowed to enter the runway but even though landing clearance had been given, the Japan Coast Guard aircraft was on the runway.”

France’s Airbus, which manufactured the JAL plane, said it would send a team of specialists to help Japanese authorities investigate. Investigators from Britain, where its two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines were manufactured, were due to join them.

Some domestic flights were operating on Wednesday morning from Haneda, one of the world’s busiest airports, but dozens were cancelled.

The passenger plane had arrived from New Chitose Airport serving Sapporo on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. Those on board included eight children.

The coast guard plane had been preparing to fly to Ishikawa prefecture to deliver supplies after the devastating New Year’s Day earthquake, which has killed at least has killed at least 64 people.

The prime minister, Fumio Kishida, praised the coast guard crew members who died on on their way to help victims of the quake.

“These were employees who had a high sense of mission and responsibility for the affected areas,” he said.

In 1985, a JAL jumbo jet flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashed in central Gunma region, killing 520 passengers and crew. It is still the world’s deadliest plane crash involving a single flight.