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Collision at major Tokyo airport follows earthquake in Japan's west

A collision between a passenger jet and a Coast Guard airplane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport is being called miraculous after everyone aboard the passenger jet survived. All 379 passengers and crew members managed to disembark as their flight was engulfed in flames.

However, on the Coast Guard flight, all but one crew member died. The Coast Guard plane was headed to Japan’s west coast to provide aid to areas affected by the New Year’s Day earthquake.

Dozens have been found dead among the rubble, and the numbers are expected to grow in the coming days.

Michelle Ye Hee Lee is the Tokyo Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. She joins Robin Young for the latest on the earthquake and the airport incident including her eyewitness account of the collision as she was on a plane that landed moments afterward.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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