Japan jet crash: Passengers describe chaos inside flight 516

BBC News:

First came the shock, as the Airbus A350 carrying 379 people collided with a second plane while landing in Tokyo.

Then came heat and smoke as the jet sped along the runway in flames.

Then survival instinct kicked in, as people scrambled to flee a cabin filling with fumes, knowing that lives depended on the next few seconds.

That all on Japan Airlines flight 516 escaped is extraordinary. Experts say a flawless evacuation and new technology played a large part in their survival.

https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.51.0/iframe.htmlMedia caption,

Watch: Moment plane turns into fireball as it lands on runway

Those on board the second plane, a smaller coastguard aircraft due to deliver aid to quake victims, were not as fortunate. Five were killed and the pilot is seriously injured.

• Hundreds survive Japan plane fire after evacuation

Investigators are piecing together what happened at 17:47 local time (08:47 GMT) at Haneda airport, and why two planes could have been on the runway at the same time.

For now, videos and statements from passengers paint a picture of a few minutes of terror, then disbelief at what they had lived through.

Swede Anton Deibe, 17, a passenger, described the chaos after impact as the Airbus A350 lumbered to a halt on the runway.

“The entire cabin was filled with smoke within minutes,” he told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

“The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell.

“We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them.

“We had no idea where we were going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos.”

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