How safety rules ‘written in blood’ saved lives in Tokyo plane crash

Watching the footage of the Japan Airlines collision at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, it seems miraculous that anyone has emerged unscathed.

Yet while, tragically, five of six crew on the Japan Coast Guard Dash 8 plane it struck during landing on Tuesday have died, all 379 passengers and crew onboard the Airbus A350 have survived the accident.

While investigations into what happened in the incident, which saw the JAL plane erupt in a fireball, are ongoing, experts say the successful evacuation is down to a combination of modern safety standards and Japan Airlines’ own rigorous safety culture.