The coast guard plane that collided with a Japan Airlines plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday, January 2, was not allowed to land on the runway. This was said by Toshiyuki onuma, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport, who released the transcript of the communication between the control tower and the Coast Guard aircraft Dhc-8-300, which was heading for the western province. Niigata is full of aid for earthquake victims.
According to the ministry, it was revealed that “there was nothing in the minutes that could be considered as permission to access the runway.”
This version appears to be contradicted by the fact that the captain of aircraft Dhc-8-300, the only survivor of the massacre of six crew members, said that he received permission to enter the runway and take off. Japan Airlines also claims to have received landing permission from the control tower. A version that now appears to have been approved by the authorities. Moreover, in the correspondence minutes published by the ministry, there is not even any indication that there was a delay in the landing of the planned flight.
Causes of the plane crash in Japan
Therefore, the most plausible hypothesis is that there was a misunderstanding between the control tower and the pilot of the coast guard aircraft, who may have confused the signals received when entering the landing runway, although he never received the OK. It is necessary to understand why the security measures foreseen to prevent unauthorized entry to the runway at airports do not work. The Japan pilot, as well as the control tower operators, would realize the facts only when the drama had already happened. According to state broadcaster NHK, the pilot of the commercial flight reported that he did not see any aircraft as he approached the runway and received permission to land from controllers.
Conflict was inevitable. After the crash, a fire broke out in both planes. Fortunately, evacuation procedures worked perfectly and a major tragedy was averted. All 379 people on board the JAL aircraft (367 passengers and 12 crew) managed to save themselves. The victims were five of the six crew members aboard the Coast Guard aircraft: the commander was the only survivor from the aircraft, although he was seriously injured.
The dynamics of the air disaster are reminiscent of other well-known accidents: for example, the crash at Milan’s Linate airport on October 8, 2001: in this case too, the pilot of the small plane Cessna Citation CJ2 misunderstood the instructions from the control. By trespassing on the landing strip. Later, the plane was hit by McDonnell Douglas Flight MD-87, which was about to take off: 118 people died.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
