Japan Airlines counts losses from wrecked Tokyo plane
Officials look at the burnt wreckage of a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane on the tarmac at Tokyo Haneda International Airport, Jan. 3. AFP-Yonhap
Japan Airlines (JAL) on Thursday said it expected losses of more than $100 million after one of its planes was destroyed when it collided with another aircraft on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport this week.
All 379 people on board the JAL Airbus A350 widebody jet escaped before the plane was completely engulfed in flames that took more than six hours to extinguish.
But five of the six crew of the other aircraft — a smaller Coast Guard plane that was in its third mission to deliver aid to quake-hit regions on Japan's west coast — were killed, with the surviving pilot badly injured.
As investigators combed the charred wreckage on Thursday, transport authorities are probing the circumstances that led to the Coast Guard plane entering the runway where the passenger jet was landing. Police are also looking into possible professional negligence in the case, according to media reports.
Transcripts released by authorities show air traffic control ordering the Coast Guard plane to proceed to a holding point near the runway minutes before the crash, instructions the pilot appeared to have read back in acknowledgement. (Reuters)