Japan plane collision: Five crew members found dead on Coast Guard aircraft

Five people were killed when a Japan Airlines plane burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday after apparently colliding with a coast guard aircraft, media reports said.

Images on broadcaster NHK showed the plane moving along the runway before a large explosion of orange flames exploded from beneath and behind it.

All 367 passengers and 12 crew onboard the Airbus plane were evacuated, NHK reported. Those onboard included eight children, Kyodo News reported. The five killed were on board the coast guard aircraft.

NHK reported that one of the six crew members on the coast guard plane was safe but that the other five were unaccounted for. The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but television reports said that the Airbus collided with a coast guard aircraft.

Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area around the wing then caught fire.

It said the plane was JAL flight 516 had flown out of Shin Chitose airport in Japan to Haneda.

Later video showed fire crews working to put out the fire with streams of water. The flames had spread to much of the plane.

NHK quoted JAL as saying it believed its plane was hit by another aircraft, possibly a Japan Coast Guard plane.

Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.

(With agency inputs)