Tokyo, (Asian independent) A runway at the Tokyo Haneda International Airport reopened on Monday after it was shut following last week’s collision between a Coast Guard aircraft and a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane.
Runway C, one of four runways at the country’s busiest airport, was reopened after the removal of the wreckage of the JAL aircraft and the completion of repairs, reports Xinhua news agency.
The closure of Runway C following the accident led to the cancellation of over 1,200 flights, affecting more than 200,000 passengers during the busy New Year holidays, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.
The JAL aircraft collided with the Coast Guard plane on Runway C while landing on January 2, with both aircraft catching fire.
All 379 people aboard the JAL flight escaped before it was engulfed in flames, but five of the six crew on the Coast Guard plane died while the surviving pilot sustained serious injuries.
The Coast Guard plane, which belonged to the Haneda Airport base, was taxiing on the runway to transport relief goods for quake-hit areas after a series of temblors of up to 7.6 magnitude struck central Japan on January 1.
