ARTICLE AD BOX
HORROR footage from inside a burning jet shows the moment screaming passengers battle through smoke to escape the flaming hell.
The Japan Airlines Airbus A350 – carrying 379 people – erupted into flames after it collided with a coast guard aircraft, according to officials.
All 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the flight managed to evacuate from the wreckage at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Japan Airlines has said.
Those on the flight managed to capture the panic and desperation inside the plane as smoke that “stung like hell” took over the entire cabin as 17 were injured.
People were seen covering their faces with their hands or masks, as others were heard yelling in the background.
One clip shows the moment the plane landed on the runway as it skidded across the tarmac and billowing smoke can be seen coming from the wing.
Loud crashing sounds can be heard as the plane lands with constant alarms going off as people start to panic.
Swede Anton Deibe, 17, was one of eight children on the plane when the tragic events unfolded.
He said: “All of a sudden it was full of smoke and everyone is shouting in Japanese.
“When it landed, I looked out the window. It got really hot and I saw through the window how it dissolved.
“Then fire trucks came and started spraying on the window.
“The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. We had no idea where we were going so we just ran out into the field. It was chaos.”
Anton was travelling alongside his sister Ella, mother Kristin and father Jonas, Swedish outlet Aftonbladet reports.
His dad Jonas added: “It was a few minutes when the entire cabin was filled with smoke.
“We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and then we threw ourselves at them.”
The family said they are still in complete shock as they don’t think they “understood what happened”.
It is now understood the other aircraft in the collision was a Japanese coastguard plane reportedly set to deliver aid to the Niigata area after the devastating Japanese earthquakes affecting the country since New Years Day.
Investigators said there were six people on board the De Havilland Dash-8 aircraft when it collided with the jet.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK later reported that five of the six crew on board were found dead.
The captain is also in critical condition, Yahoo Japan reports.
The update was released citing the Tokyo fire department.
“We have just witnessed a miracle,” former commercial pilot Roger Whitefield told Sky News.
“The way they got all those passengers off that aeroplane is almost beyond belief,” he said.
He explained that images showed smoke pouring out of one of the rear doors, meaning the visibility on the plane “must have been nil”.
“For the crew to get all the passengers out, it’s a miracle. There’s no two ways about it,” Whitefield added.
As they escaped the flaming jet shaken up passengers snapped photos of the plane as the fire continued to roar through the crumbling wreckage.
Pictures capture people running for their lives as they were guided to an observation deck at the airport as fire crews tackled the fiery mess.
All flights have now been suspended from the Tokyo Haneda Airport with many fearing they won’t be up and running again today.
People waiting to catch a flight inside the airport reported the whole place “freeze” as the news came through about the collison.
Josh Coultas was waiting for a friend coming in from a separate flight and told the BBC that it was scary “watching the airport freeze”.
Before adding: “All flights are cancelled – I don’t think they’ll come back today.
“With the earthquake and tsunami and now this it has been quite a scary start to 2024 in Japan.”
Local TV showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway after the collision.
The area around the wing then caught fire as passengers and airport workers watched on in horror.
Images from broadcaster NHK showed flames apparently coming out of the plane’s windows and from beneath the aircraft.
Video later showed fire crews working to put out the blaze with streams of water after the flames had spread to much of the plane.
Before footage showed the plane splitting into two as the fire burst through the dishevelled structure and tore it down.
A spokesperson at Japan Airlines said the aircraft had departed from Shin-Chitose airport in Hokkaido to Tokyo‘s Haneda International Airport.