Japan Airlines plane catches fire on runway of Tokyo’s Haneda airport

Reuters reported that the aircraft was carrying six crew members. The captain escaped, while five are unaccounted for, according to the coastguard

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but television reports said that the Airbus collided with a coastguard aircraft.

Reports said that the plane had just arrived from Sapporo airport on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

A coastguard official at Haneda Airport, one of the world’s busiest, said they were “checking details”.

“It’s not clear if there was a collision. But it is certain that our plane is involved,” he told AFP.

The television footage showed flames coming out of windows and the plane’s nose on the ground as rescuers sprayed it.

There was also burning debris on the runway.

More than 70 fire engines were being deployed, NHK reported.

Japan has not suffered a serious commercial aviation accident in decades.

Its worst ever was in 1985, when a JAL jumbo jet flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashed in central Gunma region, killing 520 passengers and crew.

That disaster was one of the world’s deadliest plane crashes involving a single flight.

More to come …