Airliner in Japan crash was permitted to land - officials

A passenger jet that collided with a coastguard plane at Haneda airport in Tokyo had been given permission to land but the smaller plane was not cleared for takeoff, Japanese authorities have said, as police reportedly investigated whether the crash involved professional negligence.

- Justin McCurry

Five people on the coastguard aircraft died but all 379 passengers and crew escaped to safety down emergency slides minutes before the Japan Airlines Airbus was engulfed in flames on Tuesday.

Transcripts of air traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines plane had been given permission to land but that the coastguard aircraft had been told to taxi to a holding point near the runway.

An official from Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau said there was no indication in the transcripts that the smaller aircraft had been granted permission to take off. The captain of the plane, who survived the crash, said he had entered the runway after receiving permission, a coastguard official said, while acknowledging the transcripts did not show he had been cleared to do so.

"The transport ministry is submitting objective material and will fully cooperate with the ... investigation to ensure we work together to take all possible safety measures to prevent a recurrence," the transport minister, Tetsuo Saito, told reporters.