Japanese TV reconstructs JAL A350 evacuation from passenger footage

Japanese broadcaster ANN reassembled footage shot by passengers aboard Japan Airlines Flight 516 that collided with a Japan Coast Guard Dash 8-300 on Tuesday evening into a comprehensive picture of what went on aboard the A350-900 in the minutes that followed the crash. ANN adds a crucial step in its reconstruction, displaying timestamps on the video with a running timer alongside the footage to illustrate the progression of the evacuation from within the aircraft cabin from the vantage point of the passengers filming. The aircraft came to rest roughly 20 seconds after the collision and runs uninterrupted through the point of evacuation, preceded by a period where the cabin crew can be heard trying to identify available safe exits.

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The first signs of fire fighting foam being sprayed on the aircraft occurs just before 6 minutes elapse since the crash. The exits are opened shortly thereafter, roughly six minutes after the crash, followed by 20 seconds to assess the safety around the open door. The crucial footage was shot from behind the wing on the left side of the aircraft and the passenger filming left their row six minutes and 25 seconds after the collision once the evacuation order was finally given, running toward the forward part of the cabin and going doing the slide roughly 30 seconds later — just over seven minutes after the initial accident. The evacuation was completed after 18 minutes after the captain spent 11 minutes looking for remaining passengers aboard.