NHK has learned of discrepancies between the accounts given by an air traffic controller and the captain of a Japan Coast Guard plane in relation to Tuesday's collision at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

The Japan Airlines Airbus A350 collided with the Coast Guard aircraft at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Both planes caught fire. JAL flight 516 was landing from New Chitose Airport in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. The coast guard aircraft was preparing to fly to Niigata Prefecture. It was carrying emergency goods for disaster-hit areas from Monday's earthquake.

A transport ministry source said the air traffic controller cleared the Japan Airlines plane to land on runway C, and instructed the coast guard aircraft to stay short of it.

But a source from the Coast Guard said its pilot had received the green light to take off.

The Japan Transport Safety Board began a full-scale investigation on Wednesday. Officials plan to interview the captains of both planes.

Five of the six people aboard the Coast Guard plane were killed. The captain sustained serious injuries. All 379 JAL passengers and crew members escaped via evacuation slides. Fourteen of them have seen doctors for bruises or other conditions.