PBS News Hour

with dramatic imagery.

What's more stunning,# hundreds of passengers survived and managed to## get off safely.

But five crew members on a Coast# Guard plane involved in the accident were killed.

Neil Connery of Independent Television# News starts our coverage with this report.

NEIL CONNERY: Japan Airlines Flight# 516 bursts into flames as it lands## at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

It collides with# a Japanese Coast Guard plane on touchdown.

Fire spreads along the Airbus# A350 carrying 379 people,## this the scene inside, panic as the flames# get nearer.

The pilot manages to keep control,## bringing the aircraft to a gradual halt, as smoke# begins to fill the cabin.

As cabin crew respond,## one child calls out: "Please# get me out of here quickly."

As fire envelops the fuselage, the 367# passengers and 12 crew start fleeing the## intense heat and smoke down emergency# shoots, with just moments to spare.

It's a miraculous escape.

With everyone now# off, fire crews battle flames so fierce they## burn through the plane's structure.

Five# people on board the Coast Guard aircraft,## which collided with the Airbus,# were killed.

Its pilot survived,## but suffered severe injuries.

It was taking aid# to victims of yesterday's powerful earthquake.

Japan's prime minister, Fumio Kishida, offered# his condolences to the five people killed,## who he said had lost their lives trying# to help others.

He also praised the Japan## Airlines crew and passengers for their# calmness.

Investigations are now getting## under way, as the remains of Japan# Airlines Flight 516 lie smoldering.

The 379 people who were on# board are overwhelmed with## relief they survived and walked away from this.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our own aviation# correspondent, Miles O'Brien, joins us now.

Miles, thank you for being with us.

So we know that the cr in this collision, but that the 379# passengers, including eight children## and the crew on board the commercial# plane, were successfully evacuated.

Tell us how they pulled that# off without further tragedy.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, Geoff, it is extraordinary.

And there's a lot of factors that come in technological story.

Some of it is crew training# and execution.

And, ultimately, it was the## passengers themselves who took it upon themselves# to act in a way that would save themselves.

Talking about the technology first, the aviation# industry has spent decades trying to make airplane## interiors less flammable, the upholstery and# the inner walls, et cetera.

That bought time.

The crew, the flight cabin crew in# particular, obviously did their job## well.

They're not really there to serve# us drinks and snacks.

They're there to## get us out in this instance of survivable crash.# They did they weren't pulling down their carry-on# bags.

They just did what they were told.

They turned around and they got out of that# plane, and they did it in under And it proved what a lot of us were not# so sure might happen in the real that it can happen that a plane# with upwards of 400 people on it## in flames can yield an accident where# no one gets hurt.

It's extraordinary.

GEOFF BENNETT: I want to ask# you more about the technology.

Tell us more about the design and the# manu A350.

How exactly did it buy them time?

Because# we saw how the cabin was engulfed in smoke,## and then after the passengers made it off, that# was when the plane was just enveloped by flames.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, there were -- years# ago, there were a series of accidents,## Geoff, that would have been otherwise# survivable were it not for the th at there was not much attention paid# to the flammability of the interior.

The FAA and other entities spent a lot of time# testing for alternatives.

The airline industry## responded, regulations changed, and that is a# significant piece of this story.

It really is## a matter of just providing a little bit of# time, and that's what -- all they needed.

The fact that, in 90 seconds,## upwards of 400 people could get out# seem GEOFF BENNETT: Japanese authorities say# there's going to be a full investigation.

Based on what you know right now, what factors# could have contributed to MILES O'BRIEN: Well, it's clear someone was in the# wrong here, whether it was air traffic control,## the crew of the A350 airliner,# or the Japanese Coast Guard crew.

We don't know.

But what is helpful in# this case is there will be, of course,## tape recordings of everybody and all the# air traffic control communications and the## onboard conversations, at least on the# Airbus A350.

And, of course, there are## people who are alive to testify in all three# locations.

So we will figure out what happened.

I think some of the factors they will# be looking at is this Coast Guard crew,## for example.

They were involved in trying to# get relief supplies to the Niigata region,## and subsequent to that earthquake and tsunami.# How fatigued were they?

Were they stressed?## Had they done multiple missions that day?# That's a factor they might want to look at.

When you look at the crew of the Airbus A350, was# there confusion about the clearances that were## given?

You have one controller on the tower# frequency talking to the landing aircraft,## another controller on the ground frequency talking## to the ground -- the aircraft that is# taxiing.

So conf So there's any number of ways that can -- this## can go awry.

And -- but I'm very# ce GEOFF BENNETT: And, lastly, Miles, are there any# takeaways here for the U.S. aviation industry?

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, officially, this is# not a U.S. accident.

These were -- this## was a French-made aircraft landing# in Japan with British-made engines.

So it's not as if the U.S. or its companies# will be a party to this investigation.

But,## as you and I have been talking about these past# months, there have been several near-misses in## the United States, for a lot of factors, including# a lack of staffing among air traffic controllers.

And there are other factors as well.# And whatever comes out of this,## I guarantee you will be in the category# of lessons learned for the entire aviation# industry.

When people say things# happen miraculously in aviation,## I don't believe that.

It's hard work and, frankly,# it's the hard lessons of incidents like this.

GEOFF BENNETT: Miles O'Brien,# thanks so much for joining us.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Geoff.