By Daniel Leussink and Satoshi Sugiyama
January 3, 20242:50 AM PST
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“I heard an explosion about 10 minutes after everyone and I got off the plane,” said 28-year-old passenger Tsubasa Sawada. “I can only say it was a miracle, we could have died if we were late.”
Paul Hayes, director of air safety at UK-based aviation consultancy Ascend by Cirium, noted that no-one leaving the plane appeared to be carrying hand luggage – safety agencies have warned for years that pausing to collect carry-on bags during an evacuation risks lives.
“The cabin crew must have done an excellent job… It was a miracle that all the passengers got off,” he said.
The aircraft’s in-flight announcement system did not work during the evacuation, so crew members used megaphones to give instructions, Japan Airlines said in a statement.
Kaoru Ishii, who was waiting outside the arrival gate for her 29-year-old daughter and boyfriend, said she initially thought the flight was delayed until her daughter called to explain.
“She said the plane had caught fire and she exited via a slide,” Ishii said. “I was really relieved that she was alright.”
A JAL spokesperson said its aircraft had departed from New Chitose airport on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
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