Gatineau –
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it is participating in an investigation by Japanese authorities into a fatal crash on a Tokyo runway involving two planes, including one from Canada.
In an email, the safety watchdog said a representative, along with technical advisers from Transport Canada, De Havilland Canada and Pratt & Whitney Canada, would provide information about the destroyed Dash 8 plane and its engines.
A Japan Airlines jet caught fire after crashing into a Coast Guard plane made by Bombardier while landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday evening. An orange fireball exploded as Japan Airlines Flight 516 barreled down the runway, engulfed in flames and emitting gray smoke.
Within 20 minutes, all 379 passengers and crew slipped through the Airbus A350’s emergency slides and survived.
The pilot of the Coast Guard aircraft – a Dash 8 turboprop that had not yet received clearance to use the runway – was evacuated injured, but five crew members were killed.
The Dash 8 is a 40-year-old series of regional aircraft manufactured by De Havilland Canada that Bombardier owned for 27 years before selling the turboprop program in 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2024.
– With files from The Associated Press
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