Canadian safety watchdog pitching in on probe into fatal Japan Airlines crash

CTV National News: Latest on Japan plane collision Annie Bergeron-Oliver reports on the investigation into what caused a deadly collision on an airport runway in Tokyo, Japan.

Gatineau — The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it is taking part in an investigation by Japanese authorities into a fatal crash on a Tokyo runway that involved two airplanes, including one made in Canada.

In an email, the safety watchdog says a representative along with technical advisers from Transport Canada, De Havilland Canada and Pratt & Whitney Canada will offer up information on the destroyed Dash 8 aircraft and its engines.

A Japan Airlines jet caught fire after slamming into the Bombardier-made coast guard aircraft Tuesday evening as the passenger plane was landing at Tokyo's Haneda airport. An orange fireball erupted as Japan Airlines Flight 516 tore down the runway, swathed in flames and spewing grey smoke.

Within 20 minutes, all 379 passengers and crew members slid down the Airbus A350 jetliner's emergency chutes and survived.

The pilot of the coast guard plane — a Dash 8 turboprop that had not yet received permission to use the runway — evacuated with injuries, but five crew members were killed.

The Dash 8 is a 40-year-old series of regional planes manufactured by De Havilland Canada, which 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