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French Experts to Join Probe of Haneda Airport Collision

REUTERS/Issei Kato
Officials investigate a burnt Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Japan January 3, 2024.

By Makiko Yanada / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

12:29 JST, January 3, 2024

PARIS — The French agency for investigating aviation accidents said Tuesday it will dispatch a team of experts to join the Japan Transport Safety Board’s probe into the collision of a Japan Airlines plane and a Japan Coast Guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The team was to arrive in Japan on Wednesday.

The JAL plane was an Airbus A350, manufactured in Toulouse in southern France, where Airbus’ headquarters is located. The team will assist in the technical investigation as representatives of the supervisory authority of France, where the plane was manufactured. According to the agency, Airbus engineers will also join the investigation.

Airbus issued a statement on Tuesday saying it will provide technical support for the investigation. According to the European aircraft manufacturer, the plane involved in the accident was delivered to Japan Airlines on Nov. 10, 2021.