(Video) Passengers evacuated from Japan Airlines plane on fire at Tokyo airport

A Japan Airlines aircraft was engulfed in flames at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday after a collision with a Coast Guard aircraft, with the airline saying that all 379 passengers and crew had been evacuated.

Live footage on public broadcaster NHK showed the the Airbus A350 erupt in flames as it skidded down the tarmac and fire crews feverishly tried to extinguish the fire.

The television footage showed flames coming out of windows and the plane's nose on the ground as rescue workers sprayed it. There was also burning debris on the runway.

More than 70 fire engines were being deployed, NHK reported. It remained unclear whether anyone was injured.

A spokesman of Japan Airlines said the aircraft is Flight 516 from New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido to Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The 367 passengers included eight children. Miraculously, all passengers and 12 crew were evacuated.

Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the passenger plane and its flight MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8. The Coast Guard aircraft also burst in flames after the crash.

The coast guard plane, which is based at Haneda, had been due to head to Niigata to deliver relief goods to residents affected by a deadly earthquake in the region on Monday. Six people were on board when the collision happened, and the captain escaped in time.

It was learned that the remaining five have been found, but details of their conditions are unknown.

One of the engines exploded on the passenger plane, according to sources

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed relevant agencies to coordinate to assess the damage swiftly and provide information to the public, according to his office.

Haneda has closed all runways following the incident, a spokesperson for the airport said.

Separately, the spokesman of Airport Authority Hong Kong said at least five flights operating between Hong Kong International Airport and Haneda Airport are affected. Passengers travelling between the two airports today and tomorrow are advised to check with airlines on flight status updates, and confirm their flights before heading to the airport.

HK Express said the boarding process for flight UO622 from Hong Kong to Tokyo Haneda, originally scheduled to depart at 5.55 pm on Tuesday, has been canceled. The airline has also suspended check-in procedures for flights UO628 and UO624, which were scheduled to depart from Hong Kong at 7.50 pm and 11.55 pm respectively until further notice.

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.

(NHK, TBS, Reuters, AP and AFP)
(Updated at 7.49pm)

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