In a statement on Wednesday, JAL said the aircraft recognised and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control before approaching and touching down.
All passengers and crew were evacuated within 20 minutes of the crash, but the aircraft, engulfed in flames, burned for more than six hours, the airline said.
The Coast Guard aircraft, one of six based at the airport, had been due to transport aid to regions hit by Monday’s earthquake of magnitude 7.6Â that has killed 64 people, with survivors facing freezing temperatures and prospects of heavy rain.
The accident forced the cancellation of 137 domestic, and four international, flights on Wednesday, the government said.
But emergency flights and high-speed rail services have been requested to ease the congestion, Transport Minister Saito said.
Michael Daniel, a former US accident investigator, said investigators will be looking to make recommendations.
“The main thing is the situational awareness: what is it they would have told the pilot holding short of getting on a runway … And then what was air traffic’s understanding. Did the controller gave them clearance to take off? … A lot of that information will come out when they start reviewing the cockpit voice recorder as well as the air traffic tapes.”
Source: CNA
