Five people on board a Coast Guard aircraft died after a runway collision with a Japan Airlines plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, the country's transport minister said today (2 January).
"Regarding the coast guard plane, we have been informed that the captain escaped and five people were confirmed dead," Tetsuo Saito said as per news agency AFP.
Meanwhile, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant agencies to coordinate to assess the damage swiftly, according to his office.
The Japan Coast Guard said it was investigating the possibility that one of its aircraft collided with the passenger jet. Five out of the six crew of the coast guard aircraft who were unaccounted for following the crash were later found, news agency Reuters reported quoting NHK.
The pilot was evacuated, it added.
Haneda has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson for the airport said as per news agency Reuters.
