Coastguard plane was ‘told to hold short of the runway’ moments before Japan Airlines jet collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport

Air traffic control had ordered a Japanese coast guard plane to stay short of the runway just before its catastrophic collision with a Japan Airlines passenger jet, it has been claimed.

JAL Flight 516 had been cleared by an air traffic controller to enter the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport before colliding with the coast guard plane and catching fire, the Japanese broadcaster reported NHK reportsciting a source.

Five crew members were killed aboard the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) aircraft, which was due to take off to provide relief to the city of Niigata following the deadly earthquake on New Year's Day.

The sole survivor of the Bombardier Dash-8 maritime patrol aircraft was named Captain Genki Miyamoto, 39 years old. He reportedly pulled himself from the wreckage before radioing for help, telling his base, “The plane exploded on the runway.” I escaped. The [condition of the] other crew members are unknown.”

Fortunately, all 379 passengers and crew aboard the commercial JAL flight were successfully evacuated moments before the plane was destroyed by flames – in what many are hailing as a “miracle.”

As the sun rose in Japan on Wednesday, shocking images at the scene showed the charred remains of the Airbus A350 plane, exposing just how devastating the disaster could have been.

Chilling photos of the A350 plane in daylight show nothing but the wings and piles of ash left after the inferno tore through it on Tuesday evening.

Haneda was closed for hours after the incident and the disruption has continued to this day, with 100 flights expected to be canceled, affecting around 19,000 passengers.

The Japan Transport Safety Board has sent investigators to the scene, who will be assisted by British and French aircraft experts, to launch a major investigation into the fatal collision.

As the investigation got underway, JAL said last night that its crew members had confirmed the landing clearance from the Haneda controller and repeated the order before conducting approach and landing operations.

“There were no problems with the aircraft at the time of departure from New Chitose Airport and during the flight,” the airline added.

The pilot was cleared to land but likely could not see the smaller Coast Guard Dash-8 plane as it taxied down the runway, JAL chiefs said.

The JAL flight had departed from Japan's Shin Chitose Airport and landed at Haneda Airport when it collided with the JCG aircraft on Runway C.

Safety experts have hailed the evacuation of JAL Flight 516 before it caught fire as 'nothing short of a miracle', with many praising the cabin crew for getting all passengers away safely.

The in-flight announcement system did not work during the evacuation and crew members had to use megaphones to give instructions, Japan Airlines said in a statement, making the feat even more incredible.

According to Japan Airlines, fourteen people on the passenger plane were injured, but none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening.

Passengers have told of their terrifying experiences escaping the plane, which caught fire as it skidded across the tarmac shortly before 6pm (0900 GMT).

Video and images shared on social media showed passengers screaming in the plane's smoke-filled cabin and running across the tarmac after escaping down an evacuation slide.

Television footage showed flames coming from the windows and the nose of the plane hitting the ground as rescuers sprayed it with several water hoses. There was also burning debris on the runway.

More than 70 fire engines were deployed to the scene to extinguish the raging inferno, NHK reported.

Wide-angle views of the scene showed much of the runway engulfed in flames, while large areas of the tarmac were littered with debris.

Meanwhile, images from the plane showed the cabin filling with thick smoke.

Swedish passenger Anton Deibe, 17, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that “the entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes.” We dropped to the ground. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves into them.

'The smoke in the cabin stung terribly. It was hell. We have no idea where we are going, so we just run into the field. It was chaos,” added Deibe, who was traveling with his parents and sister.

In one clip, a child's voice can be heard shouting, “Let's go outside quickly!” Let's go outside quickly!'

“I was wondering what was happening and then I felt the plane tilt sideways on the runway and felt a big bump,” said Satoshi Yamake, 59, a telecommunications company employee who was on board.

“The flight attendants told us to stay calm and ordered us to get off the plane.”

“I heard an explosion about 10 minutes after everyone else and I got off the plane,” said 28-year-old passenger Tsubasa Sawada. “All I can say is it was a miracle, if we had come too late we could have died.”

It was the first major incident involving serious damage to an A350, one of the newest large passenger aircraft.

Japanese Transport Minister Saito said the cause of the accident was unclear and that the JTSB, police and other departments would continue to investigate.

The JTSB air accident agency will be joined by representatives from France, where the plane was built, and Britain, where the two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines were manufactured. Airbus said it was also sending technical advisors.

Haneda is one of Japan's busiest airports and many people travel during the New Year holidays.

After the accident, all runways were closed, forcing dozens of other aircraft to divert. A transport ministry official said three runways have since resumed operations.

Japan has not experienced a serious commercial aviation accident in decades.

The worst ever was in 1985, when a JAL jumbo jet flying from Tokyo to Osaka crashed in the central Gunma region, killing 520 passengers and crew.

That disaster was one of the deadliest plane crashes in the world involving a single flight.