JAL A350 accident first of a composite airliner

UPDATE 2  – Japan Airlines (JAL) suffered its first air accident in almost 39 years when a two-year-old Airbus A350-900 collided with a Coast Guard De Havilland Canada Dash 8 on landing at Tokyo Haneda on January 2. All 379 occupants of the Airbus escaped, while five of the six occupants of the Dash 8 were killed. The accident is the first hull loss of an A350. 

Flight JAL516 was operating on a domestic service from Sapporo to Haneda and had just touched down on runway 34R at 5.47 pm local time. The A350 slammed into the Dash 8 which was stationary near taxiway C5 next to the active runway, waiting to be cleared for departure. The crew was to assist in the area that was struck by the severe earthquake on January 1. The investigation has to determine how exactly the aircraft came onto a collision course.

On impact, the Dash 8 immediately exploded in a ball of fire. While severly injured, the Captain survived the accident, likely because the nose section rolled on his side away from the fire. The underside of the A350 and the nose gear were ruptured off the Airbus

, which landed on the nose with flames emerging under the belly (see main picture of passenger William Manzione on X). The JAL cabin crew immediately started the evacuation, with most passengers disembarking via the forward slides of the aircraft. At the time, the number 2 Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 was still running and spewing out flames.