Japan plane crash: Investigators searching for voice recorder as timeline reveals plane evacuated in just 18 minutes
Investigators are searching for a voice recorder in the severely burned fuselage of a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane after a timeline was released revealing it took just 18 minutes to evacuate all 379 passengers from the stricken flight.
Transport safety officials are looking into what caused the collision between the passenger jet and a small coastguard plane on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday.
On Saturday they used heavy machinery for a second day to remove debris of the burned Airbus A350 into a hangar to allow the runway to reopen. The wreckage from the coastguard plane has already been cleared.
The burnt-out remains of the Japan Airlines plane at Haneda airport. Pic: AP
All 379 occupants of JAL Flight 516 were safely evacuated within 18 minutes of landing as the aircraft was engulfed in flames, something experts and the media have described as “a miracle”.
The pilot of the coastguard plane survived but his five other crewmembers died.
The coastguard aircraft was on a mission to deliver relief goods to survivors of powerful earthquakes in central Japan which killed at least 100 people.
There has been speculation controllers may not have paid attention to the coastguard plane’s presence on the runway when they gave the JAL plane permission to land.
Local broadcaster NHK reported that footage from its monitoring camera at the airport showed the coastguard plane moved to the runway and stopped for about 40 seconds before the collision.
In the footage the coastguard aircraft enters the runway from the C5 taxiway, then shortly afterwards the passenger plane touches down right behind and rams into it, creating an orange fireball.
The JAL airliner, covered with flames and spewing grey smoke, continues down the runway before coming to a stop around 1km (0.62 miles) away.
The plane on fire on the runway of Haneda airport. Pic: AP
Pic: NTV/AP
A ‘miracle’ evacuation
The JAL flight crew began its emergency response but the usual cabin announcement system had malfunctioned, according to the airline, and the crew shouted into a megaphone to make sure all passengers heard their instructions.
Flight attendants urged passengers to stay calm and leave their belongings behind while making their way towards the closest of the only three usable exits – two forward ones and the third at the rear – as five others were deemed unsafe.
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Inside the Japan Airlines flight as it caught fire
A survivor’s video shows smoke filling the cabin as people grow desperate, with some shouting “please let us out!” as children begin to cry.
Many others remained calm and followed instructions to leave the burning plane on emergency chutes.
The captain ensured nobody was left behind in the cabin and was the last to leave the aircraft 18 minutes after touchdown.
Read more:
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Small coastguard jet ‘wasn’t cleared for take-off’
The Japan Airlines plane is seen on fire on the runway. Pic: AP
Experts investigating minutes before collision
Experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board have secured the flight and voice data recorders from the coastguard’s Bombardier Dash-8 plane and a flight data recorder from the JAL jet to find out what happened in the last few minutes before the fatal collision.
A transcript of recorded communication at traffic control released by the transport ministry on Wednesday showed the controller told the coastguard plane to taxi to a holding position just before the runway, saying it had the number one departure priority.
The coastguard pilot repeats the instruction and then thanks them for the top slot. There was no further instruction from control allowing the coastguard to enter the runway.
The pilot told police investigators his aircraft was struck just as he powered up the engines after obtaining clearance to take off.
The small lights on the coastguard aircraft and its 40-second stop may have made it less visible to the JAL pilots and air traffic control.
NHK also said control officials may have missed an alert system for unauthorised runway entry while engaging in other operations.
Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.
Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.
“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.
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March: ‘We are going to lose children’: Fears over USAID cuts in Kenya
USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.
The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.
Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.
USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.
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Queer HIV activist on Trump and Musk’s USAID cuts
Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.
But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.
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What is USAID?
In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.
The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.
Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.
The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.
Thailand’s prime minister has been suspended after a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian politician caused outrage.
An ethics investigation into Paetongtarn Shinawatra is under way and she could end up being dismissed.
The country’s constitutional court took up a petition from 36 senators, who claimed dishonesty and a breach of ethical standards, and voted 7 to 2 to suspend her.
Protesters gathered in Bangkok at the weekend. Pic: Reuters
The prime minister’s call with Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, sparked public protests after she tried to appease him and criticised a Thai army commander – a taboo move in a country where the military is extremely influential.
Ms Shinawatra was trying to defuse mounting tensions at the border – which in May resulted in the death of one Cambodian soldier.
Thousands of conservative, nationalist protesters held a demo in Bangkok on Saturday to urge her to step down.
Her party is clinging on to power after another group withdrew from their alliance a few weeks ago over the phone call. Calls for a no-confidence vote are likely.
Deputy prime minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit will take over temporarily while the court looks into the case.
The 38-year-old prime minister – Thailand‘s youngest ever leader – has 15 days to respond to the probe. She has apologised and said her approach in the call was a negotiating tactic.
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The popularity of her government has slumped recently, with an opinion poll showing an approval rating of 9.2%, down from 30.9% in March.
Ms Shinawatra comes from a wealthy dynasty synonymous with Thai politics.
Her father Thaksin Shinawatra – a former Manchester City owner – and aunt Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister before her – in the early to mid 2000s – and their time in office also ended ignominiously amid corruption charges and military coups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting Donald Trump next Monday, according to US officials.
The visit on 7 July comes after Mr Trump suggested it was possible a ceasefire in Gaza could be reached within a week.
On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”
At least 60 people killed across Gaza on Monday, in what turned out to be some of the heaviest attacks in weeks.
Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Donald Trump during a previous meeting. Pic: Reuters
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 56,500 people have been killed in the 20-month war.
The visit by Mr Netanyahu to Washington has not been formally announced and the officials who said it would be going ahead spoke on condition of anonymity.
An Israeli official in Washington also confirmed the meeting next Monday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration was in constant communication with the Israeli government.
She said Mr Trump viewed ending the war in Gaza and returning remaining hostages held by Hamas as a top priority.
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The war in Gaza broke out in retaliation for Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw a further 250 taken hostage.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden’s US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire.
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