MAKICHUK: JAL crash marks first airframe loss of composite airliner

When Japan Airlines (JAL) Flight 516 from Sapporo collided with a Coast Guard aircraft on runway 34R at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2, experts say it was truly miraculous that all 379 passengers would escape unscathed.

The JAL airliner, an Airbus A350-900, struck the De Havilland DHC-8 at 5:46 p.m. local time, igniting a huge fireball and leaving a fiery trail down the runway.

Those on board the Coast Guard plane, due to deliver aid to quake victims, were not as fortunate. Five were killed and the pilot is seriously injured.

Whether the JAL airliner was given clearance to land or not, or if the DHC-8 was told to hold short, or not, we do not yet know.

The investigation will no doubt determine that fairly soon.

According to Sky News, the DHC-8 was not equipped with an ADSB transponder, which may have reduced visibility to ground/tower controllers to visually see the actual location of the DHC-8.

In saying that, instead of being down to luck, industry insiders believe the incident is proof of how modern materials and tough fire safety rules can protect passengers.

But it would also raise new questions that will affect emergency fire crews around the world.

The incident at Haneda marks the first time an Airbus A350 has been destroyed in an accident.

The model is the first of the manufacturer’s passenger jets to be built largely from carbon fibre composites.

“It’s a watershed event in aviation safety,” says Andreas Spaeth, an aviation journalist and co-host of a podcast that examines plane crashes.

“This was an aircraft that was absolutely full. So to see that everyone escaped safely is a miracle."

The twin-engine, double-aisle A350 has been in commercial service since 2015. It is used by several international carriers for long-haul journeys, with more than 570 in operation globally, according to Airbus.

JAL operates around 16 of the shorter, A350-900 planes.

Airbus says the A350 family uses “lightweight and high-strength materials” to reduce weight and increase fuel efficiency.

These carbon fibre composites make up to 54% of the overall frame, including the wings, reinforced by titanium and other metallic alloys.

Like all aircraft, these materials also need to meet tough safety standards that give passengers 90 seconds to escape in the event of a fire.

Swede Anton Deibe, 17, a passenger, described the chaos after impact as the Airbus A350 lumbered to a halt on the runway.

"The entire cabin was filled with smoke within minutes," he told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

"The smoke in the cabin stung like hell. It was a hell."

"We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them."

"We had no idea where we were going so we just run out into the field. It was chaos."

He, his parents and his sister managed to escape the wreckage unharmed.

A female passenger said it had been dark on board as the fire intensified after landing.

"It was getting hot inside the plane, and I thought, to be honest, I wouldn't survive," she told the Japanese broadcaster NHK.

“This was the very first crash or burn-up ever of a new carbon fibre aircraft type,” Spaeth explained.

“There’s the Boeing 787 and there’s the A350 being built of carbon fibre instead of aluminium. The inside also has the newest materials for seat covers, for wall covers, for carpets, all these things."

“We have very stringent standards these days and, of course, normally you’d never see in real life how these materials actually behave in a big fire, so this was very much a confirmation that the standards actually do what they’re supposed to do, delaying the spread of fire."

“We saw many cases in the 1980s and the '90s where once an aircraft was affected by fire, it almost always spread very quickly."

“But if you watch today, it took a surprisingly long time before the whole plane was on fire.”

But there is one thing, that mainstream media has missed in this story — the emergency fire crews, could not put out the fire.

Despite two big pumpers, the airframe melted away, leaving only the supporting frame.

A somewhat terrifying takeaway, if you think about it. Composites apparently burn differently.

Experts have also credited the JAL cabin crew — regarded as among the best trained in the world — for getting passengers out quickly, without taking bags.

Before this incident, the only all-composite, large airplane fire had been that of a B-2 Spirit Stealth bomber.

On February 23 2008, Spirit of Kansas, a USAF B-2 crashed on the runway moments after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

The aircraft was destroyed, but both crew members successfully ejected.

The accident marked the first operational loss of a B‑2 bomber and as of 2023, remains the only one.

With an estimated loss of US$1.4 billion, considering only the cost of the aircraft, it was also the most expensive aircraft crash in history.

— with files from BBC, MSN & CNN