Four UK-based inspectors are being sent to Japan after a large passenger plane and a coastguard aircraft collided on a runway and burst into flames, killing five people.
The accident happened on Tuesday evening when Japan Airlines flight 516 landed at at Tokyo’s Haneda airport as the coastguard plane – a Bombardier Dash-8 – was preparing to take off.
All 379 passengers and crew on board the bigger aircraft were evacuated, but five of the six crew on the coastguard plane died.
1/2 We have sent a team of inspectors to Tokyo to assist the Japan Transport Safety Board investigation into the tragic accident which occurred yesterday at Haneda Airport, Tokyo. https://t.co/7yXSo3leip
— AAIB (@aaibgovuk) January 3, 2024
On Wednesday, the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said four of its inspectors with operational, engineering and recording data expertise were travelling to the Japanese capital to assist an investigation into the crash.
The AAIB said: “The investigation is being led by the Japan Transport Safety Board, and the AAIB as state of manufacture of the Rolls-Royce engines fitted to the Airbus A350 has appointed an accredited representative.”
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