JAL pilot may not have noticed other plane: expert
A professional aircraft engineer said the position of the Japan Airlines (JAL) plane just before landing may have prevented the pilot from noticing the coast guard aircraft already on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday.  The resulting collision between the two planes claimed the lives of five out of six crew members onboard the coast guard aircraft. "Basically, the Japan Airlines plane was cleared to land. When it was landing and close to the runway, the plane should be flared, with its nose raised. So, it's not unusual that the pilot could have missed seeing [the coast guard aircraft]," Warren Chim from the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers said on a radio programme on Wednesday.  "Was there any misunderstanding between the pilot and the air traffic control? Could the ground radar detect it? Additionally, some passengers claimed to have seen something on the runway. We will only understand these details after an investigation." Chim added that the aircraft design, training provided to the cabin crew, and evacuation procedures all played crucial roles in facilitating the escape of all 379 individuals aboard the JAL plane. He explained that the materials used in the construction of the aircraft were able to resist flames for around two minutes before the plane became fully engulfed by the inferno.