Aircraft Caught Fire Five Crew Member Found Dead

Six people were aboard the coastguard plane, which had been headed for Niigata airport base to deliver humanitarian aid for the ongoing earthquake relief effort. 

Pilot of the smaller plane was injured but escaped but the remaining five crew are reported by Japanese broadcaster NHK to have been found dead.

A Japan Airlines aircraft that was carrying passengers caught fire on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport after a collision with a coastguard plane. 

All three hundred and seventy-nine passengers, including eight children, and crew aboard Flight 516 were led to safety, a feat described as a "miracle" by a former pilot. 

The aircraft was a Bombardier Dash-8, a propeller driven short-haul plane that typically have between 50 and 80 seats. 

Pilot and aviation consultant Tim Atkinson told Sky News the planes weigh 20-something tonnes and are "not anything like the size of the A350s" but are "sizeable enough to have a significant volume of fuel on board".

However, of the six people aboard the coastguard plane, five crew have been found dead while the pilot was able to escape.

Flames were seen coming out of the windows of the Airbus A-350 as it skidded down the tarmac after landing. 

The fire quickly took hold and grew to an inferno as the hull broke in two, despite fierce efforts from teams of firefighters to control the blaze. 

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, already dealing with the deadly earthquake in his country, said the situation was "very disappointing and saddening" and offered his "heartfelt condolences". 

He also expressed "heartfelt gratitude" for the efforts to evacuate the passenger plane. 

Dramatic video taken by a passenger looking out of the aircraft window shows the plane moving down the runway, leaving a trail of smoke and burning with an orange light. 

Sounds of loud rumbling from the engines can be heard as the plane speeds along the tarmac and inside the plane an alert sounds repeatedly. 

The unknown passenger said "I thought I was going to die" in their post on X alongside footage showing what looks like smoke inside the cabin.

All runways at Haneda - Japan's busiest airport - are currently closed as at least 70 fire trucks and other vehicles work to extinguish the blaze. 

Evacuation of Flight 516 'a miracle' 

The flight landed at Haneda where it then collided with a coastguard aircraft on runway. 

It was seen travelling along the runway with flames on board before coming to a stop, as the fire engulfed the airliner. 

Rodger Whitfield, a former commercial pilot, told Sky News: "I think first of all, you've got to say that we just witnessed a miracle.

"The way they got all those passengers off that aeroplane is almost beyond belief...