TOKYO, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- A large-scale emergency response drill has taken place at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, where a Japan Airlines passenger jet and a Japan Coast Guard plane collided on Jan. 2, local media reported.
The drill was conducted Thursday under the scenario that a plane with 174 passengers and crew members on board skidded off the runway upon landing, and then an engine caught fire causing many injuries, public broadcaster NHK reported.
More than 1,000 participants, including people from the transport ministry's Tokyo airport office, the Tokyo Fire Department and local medical associations, practiced procedures for putting out fires and rescuing people involved in the accident, the report said.
Since it took unnecessary time to guide emergency vehicles during the January accident, airport authorities reviewed their response system. From September, they appointed staffers who were well acquainted with conditions within restricted areas to guide such vehicles.
The drill served as an opportunity for the participants to confirm how to share information and respond in a coordinated manner, a senior official of the Tokyo airport office said, noting it is important to examine problems that were discovered through the exercise and to follow up with improved measures.
In the accident on Jan. 2, the Japan Airlines passenger jet collided with the Coast Guard aircraft on the runway immediately after the jetliner touched down, killing five of the six crew on the Coast Guard plane. ■
