How 379 people escaped from a burning plane in Japan, or Why it is important to listen to the instructions of flight attendants
At Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2, a Japan Airlines (JAL) plane collided with a coast guard aircraft. It seems miraculous that the airliner's 379 passengers and crew escaped unharmed. But there is nothing magical about this - it is simply compliance with safety rules, reports with the BBC.
Unfortunately, five of the six crew members of the Japanese Coast Guard Dash 8 were killed, but all 379 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A350 survived the disaster.
While the investigation into the incident that left the JAL plane in a fireball is ongoing, experts say the successful evacuation was made possible by a combination of modern safety standards and Japan Airlines' strict safety culture.
"From what I saw on the footage, I was surprised and pleased that everyone came out unharmed," says Graham Braithwaite, professor of safety and accident investigation at Britain's Cranfield University.
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“This is a very serious incident. But knowing what I know about this airline and how much effort they put into safety and crew training, the fact that they did such a good job shouldn't be that much of a surprise,” he added.
It was a catastrophic accident almost 40 years ago that helped Japan AIrlines become the safe airline Braithwaite says it is.
The deadliest disaster - a lesson for the future
On August 12, 1985, JAL Flight 123, en route from Tokyo to Osaka, crashed, killing 520 of the 524 on board after Boeing technicians improperly repaired the tail section.
To date, it is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.
“Obviously this has had a profound impact on the airline,” Braithwaite says. “In a culture like Japan, they took on this responsibility as a group and wanted to make sure nothing like this ever happened again.”
“So when something goes wrong, they see it as an opportunity to learn. Everything is an opportunity to become better,” he says.
In 2005, recognizing that many employees were coming to the company with no memory of the accident 20 years earlier, JAL opened a space at its headquarters that displays pieces of the wreckage and the stories of the crew and passengers.
“The feeling was that people have joined our business who don’t know what it means when something goes wrong. Everyone needs to understand how much effort goes into security,” says Braithwaite.
Nearly four decades later, the disaster still has a deep impact on the company's mentality, he said.
“They have a very strict culture about standard operating procedures and doing everything right. That's one of the reasons why I think the team worked so well in this case,” he says of the crew's performance in the recent accident.
While it is unclear who is to blame for the crash, Braithwaite says the successful evacuation is an "absolutely" positive development for Japan Airlines.
“If you want to see a reason why you should fly with them, I think this is it,” he says.
Just this week, JAL was named one of the 25 safest airlines in the world on Airlineratings.com's annual list.
“Japan Airlines has demonstrated an excellent safety record since 1985. It has received the highest rating of a seven-star airline on our website and has passed all major safety checks. In addition, Japan's aviation safety regulator performs better on eight oversight criteria than the global compliance average,” said Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Thomas.
Evacuation according to the textbook
Japan Airlines, like many modern carriers, has an impeccable safety culture.
Runway incursions are “rare but can have catastrophic consequences,” Braithwaite says.
It is obviously too early to say what happened in Tokyo and how both planes ended up on the runway at the same time.
But the main thing is that it was the quick reaction of the crew that saved hundreds of lives. Seconds after the plane came to a stop, the emergency parachutes inflated and those on board were quickly directed towards them, even as the cabin filled with smoke.
“I am extremely impressed by the pilots, crew and passengers who evacuated in the most extreme conditions like textbook safety rules,” said one pilot for a major European airline.
“The reliability of modern aircraft and the training of pilots to deal with emergency situations has evolved over decades to the point that we are in the safest period in aviation since its inception,” he said. “Procedures have been improved as planes have gotten larger, so all passengers can be evacuated in 90 seconds.” Flight attendants on some airlines can now also initiate an evacuation if it is clearly catastrophic, saving vital seconds by not having to wait for the captain to initiate it.”
Safety rules are “written in blood”
As JAL employees know all too well, the safety record in modern aviation is written in the blood of those less fortunate.
Accidents become lessons that are shared throughout the industry so that all crew members can do their jobs better.
In 2019, an Aeroflot plane also caught fire upon landing in Moscow, killing 41 of the 73 people on board.
In 1980, Saudia Flight 163 killed all 301 people on board from smoke inhalation after the plane made a successful emergency landing in Riyadh. The pilots were unable to order the evacuation. This became the impetus for flight attendants to have the right to evacuate passengers.
Another disaster that had a major impact on future aviation safety was the British Airtours crash at Manchester Airport in the UK in 1985.
The plane aborted takeoff and caught fire. By the time firefighters arrived, 55 people had died, mostly from smoke inhalation.
“The result has been a lot of recommendations that have influenced many of the functions of modern aircraft,” says Braithwaite.
“For example, there is enough space around the exits. Light along the floor. The flight attendant assesses whether the person sitting at the wing can open the door during evacuation. Much clearer exit signs. Materials from which the aircraft is made. What was special about the Manchester fire was that the material inside the plane quickly gave off smoke, says Braithwaite. “All this contributes to a successful evacuation.”
He cites his former Cranfield colleague, Professor Helen Muir, as someone who changed the safety landscape after that accident. She was known for running "incentive" trials in which participants were paid more the earlier they got off the plane. Their behavior was then monitored and reported to aircraft manufacturers and airlines.
Today we know that “the influence of flight attendants causes people to evacuate the plane, and to do so quickly.”
“It is too early to comment on the details of the incident, but what is clear is that the crew acted in an exemplary manner,” said Stephen Ehrlich, chairman of PilotsTogether, a charity set up to support crews during the pandemic.
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“The safety training that airlines—in this case JAL—provided to crews on an ongoing basis paid off, allowing them to evacuate in 90 seconds. The bottom line, in my view, is that passengers need to pay attention to safety briefings and remember that crews are not glorified caterers, but highly trained safety specialists,” he says.
International minimum safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization require flight attendants to conduct emergency evacuations annually. Aircraft manufacturers must also prove that any new aircraft can be completely evacuated in 90 seconds.
In addition, individual airlines may have additional requirements: British Airways has stricter rules regarding materials used in the cabin. Pilots conduct six months of evacuation training in their airline's simulator. They also have to train in a simulator filled with synthetic smoke.
“This is significantly different from the training of the previous generation,” the pilots say. “It takes away the shock factor of a real-life scenario. We get rational thoughts and actions instead of instinctive ones, it's much safer."
Braithwaite says the routine aspect of training is ingrained in the crew's minds.
“It’s an invisible part for us passengers, but it’s absolutely mandatory,” he says.
In fact, experts say, one of the lessons we passengers should learn from this incident is to pay more attention to safety.
Ehrlich refers to the fact that passengers on JAL516 evacuated without taking all of their carry-on luggage with them, a horrific practice that could lead to disaster.
“He just came out with his mobile phone. He had to leave everything else in the plane,” said Mika Yamake, whose husband was on board.
One pilot for a major European airline, who wished to remain anonymous, said there may be a cultural aspect to saving so many lives.
“There are definitely issues among airlines and cultures where some people prioritize their carry-on luggage or belongings over their safety and the safety of their fellow travelers,” he said.
“Leaving everything and walking away should be your only priority. When this happens, everyone will have a better chance of survival,” he says.
“Any delay in evacuation could have been catastrophic, all for the sake of a laptop or carry-on luggage. This incident could have been much worse if passengers had not heeded the announcement to leave their belongings,” says Ehrlich.
Braithwaite says it's time for us all to start focusing.
“A few weeks ago I was sitting next to someone on a plane and the person wasn’t listening when the safety briefing started. He was convinced that if something went wrong, it would be the end,” he says.
“Well, today almost 400 people in Japan have proven that this is not true. It's a testament to how much we've done to show that crashes can be survivable,” Ehrlich said.
As ForumDaily wrote earlier:
- At the airport Tokyo passenger plane collided with the military.
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