PARIS - A team of forensic experts from planemaker Airbus and French state agency BEA will arrive in Japan on Jan 3 to help the authorities investigate the deadly accident involving an A350 plane at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, they said on Jan 2.

“4 @BEA_Aero investigators will be on site tomorrow joined by 5 @Airbus technical advisors,” the BEA agency said in a post on social media platform X.

The aircraft involved was MSN 538, delivered to Japan Airlines after production in November 2021, and was powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, Airbus said in a separate statement.

The Japan Airlines airliner burst into flames on Jan 2 as it skidded down the tarmac following a collision with a Japanese coast guard aircraft that killed five of six crew on the smaller craft.

All 367 passengers and 12 crew were evacuated from the blaze, which destroyed the airliner. REUTERS