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The Coast Guard plane involved in the collision was a smaller propeller plane, according to the Coast Guard.<\/p>\n
Japan Airlines drew praise for being able to safely evacuate 367 passengers under what was likely to have been enormous pressure.<\/p>\n
Footage of the accident showed flames coming out of the windows of the collapsed plane, making it seem impossible that everyone made it out safe.<\/p>\n
Ed Galea, a professor and director of the Fire Safety Engineering Group at the University of Greenwich in Britain, called the Japan Airlines 350 evacuation \u201ca miraculous job.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the plane came to a stop, the nose gear collapsed, pitching the aircraft nose down with its tail up. Mr. Galea said in an interview that the footage showed passengers were evacuated from two of the exits at the front of the plane, and one exit at the back. Some of the \u201cpassengers essentially had to climb a hill in smoke,\u201d he said. \u201cA cabin crew stood at the back waving a torch, urging them to come forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Maggie Kuwasaki, a Japan Airlines spokeswoman, said in an email that because of the fire, only three doors were used for the evacuation. Japan Airlines crews are trained to evacuate all passengers within 90 seconds, Ms. Kuwasaki said. The crew was able to confirm that all passengers had evacuated by 6:05 p.m., she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Trisha Ferguson, the chief executive of the Interaction Group, a company that designs airplane safety cards, said the fact that all the passengers managed to safely disembark in what could have otherwise been a deadly accident demonstrated a successful cooperation between passengers and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crew was spectacular in their reaction times,\u201d said Ms. Ferguson, who is an aviation industry expert with 28 years of involvement in passenger safety education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they did was amazing,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
As part of safety testing of new airplanes, airlines must demonstrate that all passengers can be evacuated in 90 seconds. In the 1970s and 1980s, emergency training was mainly focused on the crew, Ms. Ferguson said, but in the 1990s and 2000s, new emphasis was placed on educating passengers how to react in emergencies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In this case, passengers could see the smoke, giving them incentive to move faster and leave behind their luggage. When passengers stop to take their luggage during an evacuation, the process is slowed, Ms. Ferguson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n