Tokyo: A Japan Airlines aircraft was engulfed in flames at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday after a possible collision with a Coast Guard aircraft, with the airline saying that all 379 passengers and crew had been evacuated.
However, five out of the six crew of the coast guard aircraft are unaccounted for, while the captain escaped, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.
Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the aircraft erupt in flames as it skidded down the tarmac despite feverish efforts by rescue crews to control the blaze.
The Coast Guard said the collision involved one of its planes that was headed to Niigata airport on Japan's west coast to deliver aid to those caught up in a powerful earthquake that struck on New Year's Day, killing at least 48 people.
A spokesperson at Japan Airlines said the aircraft had departed from Shin-Chitose airport in Hokkaido.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant agencies to coordinate to assess the damage swiftly and provide information to the public, according to his office.
Haneda has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson for the airport said.
The television footage showed flames coming out windows and the plane's nose on the ground as rescue workers sprayed it.
There was also burning debris on the runway.
