Haneda Airport in Tokyo returns to normal after plane collision – Observer

Tokyo’s Haneda airport returned to normal this Monday, with the reopening of the runway where, last Tuesday, a collision between two planes caused five deaths, reported the Japanese press.

After the end of the analysis by the authorities on the ground, the removal of the charred remains of the passenger plane involved in the accident and the necessary repairs, operations on the airport’s runway C were resumed at midnight (4pm on Sunday in Lisbon), said the Japanese public television NHK.

The closure of the track for six days caused more than 1,200 flight cancellationsmostly domestic, which affected more than 220 thousand passengers on dates when many Tokyoites return to their homelands for the New Year.

Despite the reopening of the track, a Japan Airlines (JAL), one of the two major airlines that uses Haneda airport as its base of operations, admitted that it would cancel 14 domestic flights during the day and continue to cancel some flights until January 10th.

The Japanese Ministry of Transport, through the Transport Safety Board, is investigating the accident occurred at Haneda Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country, after a JAL commercial flight from Sapporo (north) collided with a Coast Guard plane last Tuesday.

The accident triggered a fire in both aircraft, forcing passengers and crew to evacuate.

Explosion, burning smell and smoke. The “hell” of survivors of the collision between two planes in Tokyo

All 379 occupants of the commercial flight managed to get out of the aircraft alive, but 14 were injured. Of the six occupants of the Coast Guard plane, only the commander, who was seriously injured, escaped with his life.

Collision between two planes in Tokyo: 379 people from the Airbus got out safely, five died on the Coast Guard aircraft

The Coast Guard plane was on its way to transport food and water to the area affected by the strong earthquake that hit the west coast of central Japan on January 1.

Earthquake in Japan: at least 168 dead and 323 missing in new report

On Thursday, Deputy Director-General of the Civil Aviation Office of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, Toshiyuki Onuma, said the Coast Guard plane was not authorized to enter the runway at Haneda Airport at the time of the collision.

However, the commander of the coast guard plane and the only survivor of the six crew members, said the aircraft was authorized to enter the runway. In other statements, he indicated that the plane had received authorization to take off.

JAL estimated losses of around 15 billion yen (around 95.7 million euros) in the accident, NHK said.