This week’s dramatic plane accident in Tokyo, which claimed five lives, encapsulates decades of progress in air safety. It also highlights one of the biggest outstanding risks in aviation. Authorities across the globe are aware of the need to prevent runway incursions — lessons from this crash may bring us a step closer to eliminating them.
Early on Tuesday evening, a Japan Airlines Airbus SE A350-900 landing at Haneda Airport’s runway 34R struck a much smaller De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop on the ground, killing five Japan Coast Guard crew.
As soon as the two aircraft touched, flight and cabin crews were racing against the clock. The jet was already in flames before the pilots could bring flight FL516 to a halt. Broken landing gear and damaged engines made stopping the 200-ton aircraft even harder — both are used to slow down once a plane hits the tarmac.