The United States will help Japan investigate the disaster that occurred this week when a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 collided with a Coast Guard plane.
US aviation safety officials will help Japan read aircraft logs after the fatal collision between a Japan Airlines widebody jet and a small Coast Guard plane this week. Support will be provided mainly in reading American black boxes.
Jennifer Homendy, head of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters that Japan has requested help in analyzing these recorders produced by Honeywell. “We will help with that,” she said, adding that it was not clear whether the recorders would be brought to Washington for analysis or whether NTSB staff would travel to Japan to provide assistance.
In the ignition of fire
Japan Airlines' Airbus A350 JA13XJ landed at Tokyo Haneda Airport from Sapporo on Tuesday evening, at 5:45 p.m. local time. During landing it collided with a Coast Guard DHC-8. This plane has just left to provide assistance in the earthquake area. Although all 367 passengers and twelve crew members were able to depart the A350 in time, five of the six passengers on board the DHC-8 were killed. Only the pilot survived the disaster. He says he was cleared to take off, but according to an air traffic controller, the DHC-8 captain's claim is incorrect. His plane was only allowed to move towards the runway, but the command to fly it had not yet been issued, let alone take-off clearance.
