AFTERMATH

Japan Coast Guard Plane Was Not Cleared to Take Off Before Fiery Crash

Officials say the coast guard plane the passenger plane collided with was told to hold off.

A Japan Airlines plane with 379 people on board had been given permission to land by air traffic control before it collided with a coast guard plane Tuesday, killing five people, Japanese authorities say. Citing an official from Japan’s civil aviation bureau, Reuters reports that transcripts from air traffic control show the coast guard plane was told to stop short of the runway, while the commercial plane was cleared to land on runway C at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. A coast guard source had earlier provided a contradictory account to public broadcaster NHK, saying their pilot had in fact been cleared for takeoff. Air traffic control can reportedly be heard telling the Japan Airlines plane to “continue approach” just before the fiery crash. All 379 passengers and crew on the commercial plane managed to quickly evacuate before the aircraft went up in flames, but five on board the coast guard plane were killed. The crash is still officially under investigation, with authorities looking into whether professional negligence is to blame.