Shocking footage showed the Japan Airlines jet engulfed in a raging inferno as it sat on the runway at Haneda Airport, in Ota City, Tokyo, with gouts of flame seen pouring out of the passenger windows.
One horrific clip showed the flames licking from the airliner's main cabin door as smouldering debris fell from the fuselage onto the tarmac, while another showed passengers sprinting along the runway to escape the blaze.
A Japan Airlines spokesperson told Japanese broadcaster NHK that all 379 passengers aboard the aircraft - JAL flight 516 Airbus A-350 - at the time of the explosion were successfully evacuated from the stricken plane.
There has been no official confirmation of casualties or injured, but a successful evacuation of all passengers and crew would be a truly miraculous feat given the blaze completely gutted the plane and melted through huge chunks of its bodywork.
Images from the scene showed how the passenger escape slide protruding from one of the airliner's doors was set ablaze as more flames burned within the cabin.
A coastguard official confirmed a coastguard plane was involved in the incident, with NHK reporting one crewmember had escaped that plane but five others remained unaccounted for.
The Japanese Airlines flight had flown out of Shin Chitose airport in Japan and was landing at Haneda airport when the disaster occurred.