Crew members of Japan Airlines Flight 516 are being commended for their prompt actions and calm decisions that saved hundreds of lives on Jan. 2.

The JAL passenger jet collided with a Japan Coast Guard plane on a runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and both aircraft went up in flames.

All 379 passengers and crew members of the JAL plane escaped, although 15 of them suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

“It was an excellent response. I think their daily training paid off,” said Izumi Egami, a visiting professor at the University of Tsukuba and former JAL flight attendant with 30 years of experience.

Egami said flight attendants are required to take a “regular emergency evacuation drill” once a year during their birthday month.

It is called “ditching,” and the drill consists of a full day of written and practical skill tests.

The written test contains a wide range of questions, from how to use emergency equipment on board, such as fire extinguishers, to how to open escape exits.

A score of 80 percent or higher is required to pass the test.

During the practical skill test, instructors from specialized training departments check to see if the flight attendants can give accurate instructions to passengers both in English and Japanese to calm them down and guide them to exits during emergencies.

Failure would result in an immediate suspension from the flight crew.

“There is a lot of pressure, so everyone studies hard,” Egami said. “The pass rate is high, but some flight crew members actually fail.”

THREE EXITS USED

According to JAL, the aircraft involved in the accident had eight emergency exits.

Based on the extent of the fire and other factors, the flight attendants determined that only three of the exits could safely be used for the escape: two in the front on the left and right, and one on the left side at the back.

“In the event of a landing problem, flight attendants are trained to focus on calming the passengers until the aircraft comes to a complete stop,” Egami said. “They then immediately check the situation out the window to determine usable escape routes.”

From the videos some passengers took during the crisis, Egami said, “It appears the flight attendants did exactly what they have been trained to do, which is to try to calm the passengers in a loud voice.”

Each flight attendant is responsible for one “escape zoning area” on the plane. In emergencies, they must confirm that all passengers in their areas have escaped before they themselves leave the plane.

“They are strictly taught that ‘customers come first,’” Egami said. “Still, I am amazed that they were able to evacuate without leaving a single person behind amid the turmoil caused by an accident of this magnitude.”

‘TOOK TOO LONG’

Although there were no fatalities on the JAL flight, some said the evacuation could have been faster.

One passenger, 28, said he was kept waiting in the smoke-filled cabin and exposed to the heat from the outdoor flames. He said he wondered why an escape hatch was not opened immediately.

Hiroshi Sugie, an aviation expert who used to be a JAL pilot, said, “Details of the accident are still unclear, but I got the impression that the escape took too long.”

According to JAL, the collision occurred at around 5:47 p.m., and the pilot gave orders for an emergency evacuation.

After all of the passengers left the plane, the captain checked the cabin for anyone left behind and then escaped.

That was around 6:05 p.m., meaning the entire evacuation took about 18 minutes.

“In an incident like this, the pilot immediately orders an emergency evacuation, and the flight attendants check the safety of the escape route and evacuate the passengers from the plane,” Sugie said. “When I was on active duty, we practiced during training to complete everything in 90 seconds, from the pilot’s evacuation order to everyone getting out.”

JAL’s internal regulations require an emergency evacuation to be initiated in the event of a fire or significant damage to the aircraft, according to Sugie and previous accident investigation reports issued by the Japan Transport Safety Board.

In August 2007, a China Airlines plane caught fire immediately after landing at Naha Airport in Okinawa Prefecture. It took 3 minutes and 15 seconds from the time the pilot was notified of the fire to the time the 165 passengers and crew escaped.

Sugie said if the fire on the JAL plane had spread quicker, it could have led to serious human casualties.

“It was a silver lining in a dark nightmare that only 15 people were injured,” Sugie said. “It is essential to verify how the emergency evacuation was carried out.”

Sayori Kodama, a former JAL flight attendant and specially appointed professor at Meisei University, said, “The accident appears to have occurred at an unexpected moment, and the crew must have had difficulty grasping the situation.”

Kodama sympathized with the crew members, and said passengers should trust flight attendants, who are trained to handle emergencies.

“If they had hastily opened an escape hatch, fire could have entered the cabin, exposing the passengers to extreme danger. They may have taken their time to calmly determine which escape route to take,” Kodama said.

“Considering the fact that there were no serious injuries to either the crew or the passengers, (what they did) was the ‘correct answer.’”

(This article was written by Hiroshi Nakano and Yuki Nikaido.)