How was the miraculous evacuation of hundreds of passengers from the Airbus A350 that caught fire at a Tokyo airport

First there was accident: the Airbus A350 that carried 379 people collided with another aircraft upon landing in Tokyo.

Then came the heat and smoke as the plane hurtled down the runway in flames.

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Survival instinct kicked in and people ran to escape the smoke-filled cabin, knowing that Their lives depended on the next few seconds..

The fact that all passengers on Japan Airlines Flight 516 escaped is extraordinary, which experts attribute to seamless evacuation and new technology.

Those aboard the second plane, a smaller Coast Guard plane that would deliver aid to victims of the New Year’s earthquake, were not so lucky: 5 people died and the pilot was seriously injured.

“It was hell”

Investigators are reconstructing what happened at 5:47 pm local time (8:47 am GMT) this Tuesday at Haneda Airport and why two planes collided on the runway.

For now, the videos and testimonials from passengers speak of a few minutes of terror and then disbelief before what was experienced.

One of them, 17-year-old Swede Anton Deibe, described the chaos after the impact.

“The entire cabin was filled with smoke in a matter of minutes,” he told the Swedish newspaper. Aftonbladet.

The cabin soon filled with smoke after the collision. (REUTERS).

“The smoke in the cabin affected us a lot. It was hell” he added. “We fell to the ground. Then the emergency doors opened and we threw ourselves through them.”

“We had no idea where we were going, so we ran onto the track. It was chaos,” he explained.

He, his parents and his sister managed to escape the rubble unharmed.

Satoshi Yamake, a 59-year-old passenger, said he felt the plane “tilt to one side” and noticed “a big blow“in the initial collision.

Another anonymous passenger described a “thud, as if the plane had hit something upon landing. I saw a spark outside the window and the cabin filled with smoke.”

A third party informed the news agency Kyodo that he felt “a pop, as if we had hit something and stood up abruptly the moment we landed.”

“I didn’t think I would survive.”

Some captured fragments of these moments on their cell phones.

Several passengers filmed the red glow of a still-running engine as the plane came to a stop.

Another took images of the interior, where a cloud of smoke quickly obscured the camera lens as passengers screamed and cabin crew tried to direct their next moves.

One passenger said it was dark on board because the fire intensified after landing.

“It was hot inside the plane and, To be honest, I didn’t think I would survive.“, he told Japanese radio station NHK.

The plane caught fire after passengers left. (GET IMAGES).

According to another passenger, the escape plan was complicated because only one door was used.

“It was announced that the rear and center doors could not be openedso everyone disembarked first”, he explained.

Images and videos show the moment people began jumping on the plane’s inflatable slides, some struggling to escape an already burning cabin for greater safety.

No one appears to be carrying carry-on luggage, a major factor in how quickly a cabin can empty.

Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, told the BBC that The crew managed to organize “a classic evacuation”. in the first crucial minutes after impact.

Saved by minutes

The fire remained “isolated in one area” on the Airbus A350 for the first 90 seconds, leaving a small window for everyone to exit.

He explained that the crew clearly understood which doors were away from the flames and so not all exits were opened so people could escape.

He added that passengers can sometimes slow down when they panic, for example, trying to get their luggage from the compartments.

The Airbus A350 is one of the first commercial aircraft manufactured with carbon fiber composite materialswhich apparently withstood the initial collision and resulting fire well.

All this was achieved as the fire spread rapidly to engulf the aircraft.

Video footage showed firefighters struggling to contain the fire as the fuselage began to split in two.

In the end, firefighters managed to put out the fire. (GET IMAGES).

Passenger Yamake stated that, despite all the chaos, passengers and crew It took them about five minutes to get out.. “I saw the fire spread in about 10 or 15 minutes,” he said.

Tsubasa Sawada, 28, observed; “I can only say it was a miracle, we could have died.”

It took several hours before the fire was finally extinguished. A total of 14 passengers and crew were treated for minor injuries.

Passengers tried to come to terms with what they had just experienced, telling friends and loved ones they were okay and preparing for what came next.

Sawada has a question: “I want to know why this happened,” he declared, after ensuring that he does not plan to board another plane until he gets the answer.

Source: Elcomercio