The accident occurred on Tuesday evening, when the Japan Airlines flight with 379 passengers on board was about to land on one of the airport's four runways while the smaller Bombardier Dash-8 Coast Guard aircraft was preparing to take off from the same runway.
Five members of the Coast Guard plane died in the collision. Only the captain survived, with injuries. All passengers on the JAL plane survived.
Conflicting information
The day after the accident, two parallel investigations were investigated. While the Transport Safety Authority is focusing on the communication between air traffic control officers and the two aircraft in order to determine what caused the collision, the police are conducting a separate investigation into possible professional negligence, according to the news agency AP.
Among other things, the broken and charred aircraft parts are examined and the people involved are interviewed, according to the AP. Both Japan Airlines executives and the Japanese Coast Guard pilot have stated after the accident that they received clearance from flight officials to land and take off, respectively.
First serious accident
The three other runways opened late on Tuesday, but about 100 flights have been canceled as a result of the incident, according to the news agency.
The accident is the first serious to involve an Airbus A350 passenger aircraft, which entered commercial service in 2015.