While all the people on board survived, 2 passengers' pets were killed in the devastating Japan Airlines fire

• Two passengers' pets were killed during the Japan Airlines crash on Tuesday, a spokesperson told BI.
• Five people died as a result of the crash, although all the JAL passengers survived.

Japan Airlines has apologized after two passengers' pets were killed during Tuesday's crash and subsequent fire at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

"JAL considers pets to be members of the family and expresses its deepest condolences for the loss of the pets, pet owners, and its family," an airline spokesperson told Business Insider.

The airline wouldn't publicly disclose what type of animals the pets were.

Five people died after the Japan Airlines Airbus A350 collided on the runway with a smaller De Havilland Dash 8 operated by the Japan Coast Guard.

The A350 burst into flames, the intercom malfunctioned, and more than half the emergency exits were unusable — but all 379 people on board managed to safely evacuate via the inflatable slides.

Experts praised the Japan Airlines crew in evacuating the A350, with all the passengers leaving their luggage behind being a key factor in the efficiency.

The deceased were all on board the the Coast Guard aircraft, the pilot of which survived with serious injuries. According to Reuters, it was his third flight in 24 hours, providing disaster relief to victims of Monday's earthquake.

Japan Airlines and the Coast Guard both said their planes had been cleared to enter the runway before the landing A350 crashed into the smaller plane.

But air traffic control transcripts showed that the Coast Guard captain had actually been told to stay short of the runway at a holding point.

Tuesday's incident was the first fatal crash involving a Japan Airlines for nearly four decades.

1985's Flight 123 remains the deadliest crash involving a single plane, with 520 people killed after a large portion of the Boeing 747's tail ripped off due to a faulty repair.