‘The only thing I felt was that I was going to die’: Survivors recount moments of disaster after plane crash in Japan

A few minutes before the end of the trip from Sapporo to Tokyo (Japan), the unexpected happened. First there was the sound of a plane colliding with a Coast Guard plane parked on the runway, then the plane burst into flames. The crash occurred on board a Japan Airlines Airbus A350, which was carrying 379 people, including passengers and crew. They managed to get out of the burning plane unharmed. It was as if they were born again.

“We are very glad to be alive,” said the man, traveling with his wife and two-year-old daughter. The survivor reports that he did everything to protect the child, keeping his hands on the girl’s face because of the smoke. “There was so much smoke that we could only see our feet. There were a lot of people having difficulty breathing,” he said. The temperature began to rise, and flight attendants used flashlights to guide passengers to the exit door with emergency hoses already activated. “It got hotter and hotter inside, I thought we wouldn’t survive,” said another survivor.

“The only thing I felt was that I was going to die, that this was the end,” admitted 28-year-old Tsubasa Sawada. Despite the great suffering experienced inside the device, the exit was organized in an orderly manner, the young man said. After 20 minutes everyone was safe. Soon after the landing, no more than 10 minutes later, a powerful explosion was heard. “I can only say that it was a miracle, we could have died if we were late,” admitted Sawada. The five people killed on the Coast Guard aircraft (only the captain survived) were not so lucky as they were preparing to take off when the Airbus A350 collided with them.