A burning jet, three exits: How 379 flyers were saved in Tokyo
Japan Airlines Flight JL516 skidded to a fiery halt after colliding with another plane on the runway at Tokyo Haneda airport on Jan. 2, cabin crew faced a daunting scenario.
The intercom system to communicate between flight deck and cabin had broken down, one of the giant engines was still spinning and couldn’t be shut off, and only three of the eight escape doors were available to evacuate the stricken aircraft as flames licked up the kerosene-covered fuselage.
In the end, all 367 passengers and 12 crew got off the Airbus A350 alive. Given the odds, their escape is even more remarkable, the result of modern aircraft design, skilled crew and — not least — passengers who preserved calm and stuck to the rules.
Modern planes must be able to fully evacuate in as little as 90 seconds, using just half the number of their available exits. The Japan Airlines occupants managed with even fewer. One flight attendant quickly decided to open an emergency door toward the back of the jet to help more people escape via the emergency slides, government officials said at a press conference the day after the disaster.
Aircraft manufacturers train rapid evacuations in order to gain certification, and the 90-second rule has existed for decades after regulators determined modern aircraft can structurally withstand a blast for at least that long. Even the giant Airbus A380, with the additional complication of two full-length flight decks, has managed to empty out with a few seconds to spare.
Footage from inside the Japan Airlines plane showed the smoke had entered the cabin, and that some passengers were clutching for face masks to facilitate breathing. Still, the mood was calm as
