Japan Coast Guard plane not cleared for takeoff before JAL crash
The Japan Coast Guard plane that collided with a Japan Airlines jet at Tokyo's Haneda Airport had not been cleared by air traffic control to enter the runway for takeoff, according to communications released Wednesday by the Transportation Ministry. The captain of the coast guard craft said after Tuesday's collision that he had been given permission to enter the runway, suggesting the possibility of a misunderstanding that is likely to become a focal point of the investigation into the crash. "We have presented objective materials," Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said Wednesday. "We will take every possible measure to prevent this from happening again. We will cooperate with the investigation by the Japan Transport Safety Board." The ministry said it believes the directions from air traffic control were appropriate. Air traffic control avoids allowing multiple planes on a single runway to avoid collisions, directing pilots to wait or giving them clearance to enter. Pilots normally repeat these directions to confirm them. The roughly four minutes of communications show air traffic control clearing the JAL jet to land on runway C at 5:44 p.m. At 5:45, the coast guard plane was told to taxi to a holding point. The coast guard pilot repeated the instruction, yet apparently entered the runway without any discussion with the control tower. The collision occurred about two minutes after the exchange with the tower. JAL said Wednesday that the pilot of its jet could not see the coast guard plane on the runway. The unusual decision to release the records to the public after just one day was likely intended to allay worries sparked by the collision. "Just looking at the released communications, the directions from air traffic control to the coast guard plane were appropriate, and the coast guard plane repeated them correctly," said Hiroyuki Kobayashi, an aviation analyst and former Japan Airlines pilot. "It looks increasingly likely that the coast guard side made some kind of assumption."<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-01-04/oneworld/japan-coast-guard-plane-not-cleared-for-takeoff-before-jal-crash
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Japan Coast Guard plane not cleared for takeoff before JAL crash
The Japan Coast Guard plane that collided with a Japan Airlines jet at Tokyo's Haneda Airport had not been cleared by air traffic control to enter the runway for takeoff, according to communications released Wednesday by the Transportation Ministry. The captain of the coast guard craft said after Tuesday's collision that he had been given permission to enter the runway, suggesting the possibility of a misunderstanding that is likely to become a focal point of the investigation into the crash. "We have presented objective materials," Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said Wednesday. "We will take every possible measure to prevent this from happening again. We will cooperate with the investigation by the Japan Transport Safety Board." The ministry said it believes the directions from air traffic control were appropriate. Air traffic control avoids allowing multiple planes on a single runway to avoid collisions, directing pilots to wait or giving them clearance to enter. Pilots normally repeat these directions to confirm them. The roughly four minutes of communications show air traffic control clearing the JAL jet to land on runway C at 5:44 p.m. At 5:45, the coast guard plane was told to taxi to a holding point. The coast guard pilot repeated the instruction, yet apparently entered the runway without any discussion with the control tower. The collision occurred about two minutes after the exchange with the tower. JAL said Wednesday that the pilot of its jet could not see the coast guard plane on the runway. The unusual decision to release the records to the public after just one day was likely intended to allay worries sparked by the collision. "Just looking at the released communications, the directions from air traffic control to the coast guard plane were appropriate, and the coast guard plane repeated them correctly," said Hiroyuki Kobayashi, an aviation analyst and former Japan Airlines pilot. "It looks increasingly likely that the coast guard side made some kind of assumption."<br/>
