UPDATE: Details continue to emerge and this story simply gets more fascinating.
Japanese media have provided a number of updates concerning the evacuation of Japan Airlines Flight 516.
- The JAL A350-900 skidded for about 1,000 meters after the collision at HND
- JAL pilots did not know about the fire before being informed by the cabin crew
- The chief flight attendant called the cockpit to report that the plane was burning and request permission to open the emergency exit doors
- During the time, the cabin was growing hot and filing with smoke
- People began crying out, begging flight attendants to open the eight emergency exit doors
- The evacuation began at the front of the aircraft on both sides (door 1R and 1L)
- The only other exit door deemed safe to use was the rear left door (door 4L)
- It took 18 minutes to evacuate the aircraft
- The pilots were the last to step off at 6:05 pm local time
- Minutes later, the entire aircraft was covered in flames
- No flight recorder or voice recorder have yet been obtained from the JAL A350-900
The evacuation of all 379 passengers and crew members onboard Japan Airlines Flight 516, including eight children under the age of two, was completed safely. Only 17 were treated for minor bruises. More details have emerged about how such an efficient and successful evacuation took place.
The Evacuation Of Japan Airlines Flight 516
Initial reports on Tuesday suggested that passengers onboard JL516, an Airbus A350-900, may have “jumped the gun” on an evacuation, defying flight attendant instructions to remain seated while the safest exit routes were determined.
In one video recording (below), a child cries out, “Let us get out quickly! Let us get out quickly!”
But passenger accounts are emerging that suggest that may not have been the case. 59-year-old passenger Satoshi Yamake told Reuters:
“I was wondering what happened and then I felt the airplane tilted to the side at the runway and felt a big bump. The flight attendants told us to stay calm and instructed us to get off the plane.”
28-year-old Tsubasa Sawada added:
“I heard an explosion about 10 minutes after everyone and I got off the plane. I can only say it was a miracle, we could have died if we were late.”
Yamake further explained to CNN:
“We landed normally, didn’t feel a shock or anything. But then we saw fire coming out of the engines and I found it strange.
“Just as I was thinking why the fire was burning for so long, an announcement came and said we probably hit something on the runway and we have to now evacuate the plane. We could smell some smoke but passengers were not panicking a lot.”
That does not necessarily conflict with The Aviation Herald report I found so startling on the day of the accident. It could well have been that passengers began evacuating before cleared to do so, only for flight attendants to guide them efficiently and effectively in that endeavor.
But since much of this is speculatory at this juncture, I did want to add these data points.
Two other concerning points: the PA system malfunctioned, forcing flight attendants to use megaphones or to scream in order to communicate with passengers. Second, five of the right emergency exits were deemed unsafe for evacuation, forcing all passengers through only three exits.
In any case, it worked…and it worked fairly well. What a small reason for joy in the midst of a very tragic accident. All 379 survived…what a feat!
Pure speculation on your part, based on a google search, and nothing more. Kind of a pointless post.
@Kyle, issue the gent a refund refund please.
The issue here : Was runway 34R being used solely for departures , and runway 34L being used solely for arrivals? If so , how could it happen ?
34R was being used for landings AND departures that evening, according to flightradar24. There were several aircraft (inc a DL flight) lined up to take off on 34R.
The curse of the number 13. As reported by ABC News “The aircraft, which had been registered as JA13XJ, was delivered to Japan Airlines on Nov. 10, 2021, Airbus said in a statement on Tuesday. Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines powered the aircraft.”
Except the “bad luck” number in Japanese culture is four.
Forgive me Mr. Klint for leaving a similar comment on two separate posts, but given the reach of your blog and the fact that media, stakeholders, and hopefully FAA personnel may be reading, I hope it’s OK:
Consider how much more difficult this miraculous evacuation would have been if there were been multiple service/”emotional support” dogs aboard! As the commenters “Bonnie” and “Marlene” on the service dog article mentioned, dogs could have blocked the evacuation slide or even punctured it!
@Bluebird … Hear Hear … And a diseased-mouth dog also likely to fang-bite innocent passengers .
I appreciate you pointing this out.
More than 30 years ago I watched a documentary on plane accidents that interviewed survivors about what they went through. One of the key messages was that knowing your exit path was very helpful because it may be very hard to see or make your way to an exit.
When I board a plane, I have a routine that I do to evaluate the exit options from my seat– from now on it will include understanding if/where dogs are located relative to those exits.
There was likely many fewer overweight passengers on this flight so as a whole the passengers and staff moved with greater alacrity than what you might encounter on a US domestic flight. The cultural mindset of the Japanese of mutual respect and assistance played in everyone’s favor as well.
Also, many Americans would first pull out their cells to make selfies and short videos, then try to retrieve their personal bags, and finally demand others move out of their way. It’s an all-about-me world for many now…
Or a bunch of 80 year old AFA flying hags.
Excellent point
Contrast this with the Asiana insanity from SFO: controllers had no idea what was happening (diversity hires) and “firefighters” (same) literally ran over a girl who was lying outside the aircraft and killed her, commenting “s**t happens”.
And you’re a racist.
It’s imbecilic and no public service for bloggers to try to make sweeping generalizations based on a single incident with inconclusive and evolving information. “Oh, the Japanese are supposed to follow rules…” But in the middle of a plane accident and fire, total chaos, no PA system, Av Herald cites ONE pax saying he/she was told to remain seated. A truly revealing cultural moment? Really? Well, obviously that was a single fleeting (and misleading) moment. And now, as reports clarify how the crew managed to evacuate every single pax and crew member, it’s clear how useless such speculation and sensationalization in the blogger world truly is.
I totally agree. It also encouraged happy clappers to weigh in, with some making comments that bordered on racism. All of this was said with an ‘I know better’ tone before any actual facts were at hand.
I cannot agree more Jm and Maugrim. Thank you for your words. Well-said both of you!
To quote Stuart “now we know it takes a burning airplane for the Japanese not to follow rules” — I cannot explain how livid that comment made me!
Japanese culture is orderly and centered around everyone acting in what’s best for them as a group. If something goes wrong and they have a disagreement, they do not burn down their own neighborhoods and nearby properties. Americans, on the other hand, live in an individual-centered culture and are prone to not following authority when that authority does not suit them with a certain ethnic group prone to burning down their own neighborhoods and nearby properties. If this plane had been filled with Americans instead of Japanese, I posit many would have died.
Agree, and don’t forget the ones who board the plane already drunk or wearing shorts and flip flops which give little protection during an evacuation or a fire. The rest of us just shake our heads then go back to staring at our phones during safety demonstrations.
As a major airline flight instructor, I observe what goes on during the safety briefing even though I teach stuff like this to the pilots. If I haven’t flown on a particular jet, as a passenger, in some time, I pull out the card and look at it. I ALWAYS know where I am in relation to the nearest exit. I agree with a note posted above that when I am sitting at the gate, I note the numbers of passengers wearing pajamas, sweat pants, flip flops, shorts and the like. Those are the poor souls who will die in an accident or be injured going down a slide. The slide is not a Six Flags ride! Service animals will NOT damage a slide. They are extremely tough but the texture is extremely rough and those wearing panty hose, shorts, pajamas, etc. will be “burned” by the friction generated. You can fix ignorance but you can’t fix stupid.
What about flight attendants wearing standard skirt uniforms? Are they stupid?
The FAs’ uniforms are kevlar-reinforced.
SFO ATC sent out emergency vehicles immediately and did a fantastic job handling ground traffic so they could get to the aircraft quickly. All of this while simultaneously handling air traffic on approach and having them all go around. I don’t understand your criticism for ATC as they did a great job handling the situation.