Haneda runway collision: how all 379 people on JAL 516 got out

What happened

At about 5:47 p.m. on January 2, 2024, Japan Airlines flight 516 from Sapporo (New Chitose) was landing on Runway 34R at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, with landing clearance. A Japan Coast Guard Dash 8, about to fly relief supplies to the area hit by the previous day's Noto earthquake, was on the same runway. The airliner struck it, and both aircraft caught fire.^{2, 4}

The A350 came to a stop beside the runway. All 379 people aboard — 367 passengers and 12 crew — evacuated. One passenger was seriously injured and four had minor injuries.² Five of the six Coast Guard crew died; the captain survived.^{2, 4}

What the investigation has found so far

Japan's Transport Safety Board (JTSB) is leading the investigation; its final report has not yet been published. Its December 2024 progress report described three circumstances that combined:^{1, 4}

• The Coast Guard captain misunderstood an instruction — being told his aircraft was "number one" (first in the departure sequence) — as permission to enter the runway and take off.
• The controller did not notice the Coast Guard aircraft had entered the runway.
• The JAL pilots did not see it before touching down, in darkness.

How everyone got out

The cabin's announcement system failed, so cabin crew used megaphones and their voices. They chose safe exits, and everyone left through three of the eight doors.³ The JTSB has said it hopes to draw lessons from this evacuation for future emergencies.² Reporting at the time noted that passengers left their bags behind, which helped the evacuation go smoothly.⁴

How rare is this?

Serious runway collisions are very rare: this was the first time an Airbus A350 had been destroyed since the type entered service in 2015, and JAL's first hull loss since 1985.⁴

What changed

In the days afterwards, Japan's transport ministry added a dedicated controller at Haneda to constantly monitor the runway-incursion display, stopped using the "number one" phrase in departure instructions, and announced brighter markings for stop lines at runway entrances.⁴