On 2 January 2024, a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900 collided with a Japan Coast Guard turboprop on the runway at Tokyo Haneda Airport, destroying the airliner in a fierce post-impact fire. Five of the six Coast Guard crew members died. Every one of the 379 people aboard the JAL aircraft — 367 passengers and 12 crew — evacuated safely and survived, in what aviation safety experts would later describe as one of the most remarkable mass evacuations in commercial aviation history.
What happened
JAL Flight 516 had arrived from New Chitose Airport in Sapporo and was on final approach to runway 34R when, at approximately 17:47 Japan Standard Time, it touched down and almost immediately struck a Japan Coast Guard De Havilland Canada Dash 8 that was stationary on the runway ahead of it. The Coast Guard aircraft was carrying six crew members and relief supplies destined for the Noto Peninsula, which had been struck by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake just the previous day.
The collision was catastrophic. The A350 sustained severe structural damage and came to rest further down the runway with fires burning in the area of the engines and fuselage. The Coast Guard aircraft was destroyed on impact. Only the Coast Guard captain survived, with serious injuries. Within minutes, the A350 was engulfed by flames that investigators would later establish had spread with exceptional speed due to the ignition of fuel and composite materials in the aircraft’s fuselage and wings.
Despite the intensity of the fire, the 12-member JAL cabin crew initiated and completed a full emergency evacuation. Of the aircraft’s eight usable emergency exits, three were rendered inaccessible by fire or structural damage, leaving only five available for the evacuation of 379 people. The process was completed in approximately 18 minutes. The aircraft was a total loss by the time emergency services brought the fire under control.
Why it matters
The JAL Haneda evacuation drew global attention for demonstrating the life-saving effectiveness of rigorous crew training and passenger compliance with safety instructions under extreme conditions. Passengers were firmly instructed to leave all hand luggage behind — a directive that is frequently ignored in less serious evacuations but was overwhelmingly followed on this occasion, and which investigators credited as a critical factor in the speed of the evacuation. The 90-second evacuation rule — the industry standard under which aircraft must be certifiable to evacuate all occupants in 90 seconds using half the exits — had long been criticised for being tested under unrealistically controlled conditions. The Haneda evacuation renewed calls for a review of those standards.
The accident also refocused attention on runway incursion prevention — the measures taken by air traffic control, airport design, and crew procedures to prevent aircraft from occupying a runway without clearance. The investigation found that the Coast Guard crew had misunderstood their taxi clearance, believing they had been authorised to enter the runway when in fact they had only been cleared to a holding point at its edge.
What comes next
Japan’s Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission (ARAIC) opened a formal investigation. Early findings confirmed the miscommunication between the tower and the Coast Guard crew as the probable cause of the runway incursion, while also examining whether any additional safeguards — such as enhanced runway status lighting or surface movement radar alerts — could have prevented the collision. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and national regulators in multiple countries used the accident as an impetus to review runway safety protocols and air traffic control phraseology standards. JAL subsequently retired the damaged aircraft registration, and Airbus provided data on how the A350’s composite structure had performed in the fire.
Key vocabulary:
- runway incursion – an event in which an aircraft, vehicle, or person enters a runway without authorisation, creating a collision risk with landing or departing aircraft
- evacuation slide – an inflatable slide attached to an aircraft exit door, used to allow passengers to exit quickly without stairs when the aircraft is on the ground
- composite materials – materials made from two or more components with different properties, such as carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic; widely used in modern aircraft like the A350 to reduce weight
- holding point – a designated position near a runway where an aircraft waits for clearance to enter the runway or take off; distinct from the runway itself
- phraseology – the specific, standardised words and phrases used in aviation radio communication to reduce the risk of misunderstanding between pilots and air traffic controllers
- total loss – an aircraft so severely damaged that it cannot be economically repaired and is written off entirely
- 90-second rule – the certification standard requiring that all passengers and crew must be able to evacuate a commercial aircraft within 90 seconds using half the available exits
CEFR Level C1 / ICAO Level 5-6