2024-01-11 07:52:52
2024-01-11 15:52 Lianhe News Network Chen Weichen A collision occurred between a Japan Airlines plane and a Coast Guard plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The picture shows a man looking at the JAL plane from a distance…
On the evening of January 2, 2024, Japan Airlines flight JL516 collided with a Coast Guard patrol aircraft at Haneda Airport in Japan. Although all 379 passengers and crew members of the Japan Airlines flight escaped, it also caused the Coast Guard patrol aircraft to only The captain, who was seriously injured, survived, but the remaining five crew members were unable to escape in time and died in the line of duty. (Extended reading: Inspiration from the Japan Airlines accident at Haneda Airport: 90 golden seconds for escape, what should flight attendants and passengers do?)
The incident occurred more than a week ago. Although the direct cause of the accident has almost become clear, why did Haibao get the opportunity to enter the runway? Why the tower failed to detect the entry of the maritime security plane, whether the JAL aircraft might obtain information regarding the runway invasion in advance when landing, etc. All aspects are the key to preventing this accident, and naturally have attracted public attention.
▌Question 1: Why did the Coast Guard patrol plane enter the runway?
Recently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced the communication records between the tower air traffic control personnel and the two accident aircraft. For the Japan Airlines aircraft, the air traffic control personnel directly gave landing instructions. For the operating pilots, it was equivalent to giving a green light, plus The weather and the aircraft’s mechanical conditions were all normal, and the Japan Airlines pilots carried out landing procedures.
However, when the sea protection aircraft received instructions from the tower and went to the C-5 taxiway to wait, although the captain repeated the instructions, the sea protection aircraft finally entered runway 16L-34R (runway C) and stayed there for 40 seconds. For a long time, according to the information that has been disclosed so far, it may be due to the difference in the understanding of instructions between the tower and the maritime security aircraft. Two minutes before the accident, when the tower issued an order to the sea protection aircraft, since a strong earthquake occurred on the Noto Peninsula in the Hokuriku region on January 1, the sea protection aircraft was responsible for carrying disaster relief supplies, so the tower gave the sea protection aircraft the first priority. instruct.
Although the tower did not give takeoff instructions, the maritime protection aircraft may have mistakenly believed that the tower had given a message to enter the runway and take off first. This may explain why the maritime protection aircraft stayed on the runway for 40 seconds, possibly waiting for the tower to release it. In addition, some aviation safety experts believe that for the crew members of the maritime protection aircraft, the mood to get to the disaster area as soon as possible may have led to the occurrence of “hurry-up syndrome”, and thus they misunderstood the instructions given by the tower.
In addition, Haneda Airport is equipped with a signaling system to prevent aircraft from accidentally crossing the runway. However, according to public information, starting from December 27, Haneda Airport’s anti-traversing signaling system will undergo annual maintenance until February 21, which is equivalent to aircraft When taxiing on a taxiway, without the assistance of anti-intrusion signals, the pilot can only rely on the close contact with the tower, which increases the risk of accidental intrusion.
Tokyo Haneda Airport is the third largest airport in the world. There are 1,300 flights taking off and landing at this airport every day, and more than 70 million people…
▌Question 2: Why didn’t the tower air traffic control personnel detect the coast guard aircraft invading the runway?
Although the anti-intrusion sign system is closed for annual maintenance, the Haneda Airport tower still has a warning device for accidentally crossing the runway. According to information released by the Ministry of International Transport and Communications, the warning device was operating normally at the time of the accident, but air traffic control personnel were busy coordinating with other accidents. He was conducting communications and instructions for the landing flight and failed to pay attention to the warning on the screen, thus missing the last chance to prevent the tragedy.
Haneda Airport is the busiest airport in Japan and the third largest airport in the world. There are 1,300 flights taking off and landing at this airport every day, and more than 70 million people come and go here (in 2023). During the most intensive period, there are even 90 flights per hour. The number of takeoffs and landings is equivalent to 1.5 flights per minute. Air traffic control personnel have to deal with a huge flow of aircraft every day. The incident happened to be during the Japanese New Year holiday. Various airlines have many temporary extra flights, which is even more difficult for air traffic control. It’s a huge burden.
In addition, since the tower of Haneda Airport is 1.5 kilometers away from the end of Runway C, the DHC8-300 model used by the Haibo aircraft is not as large as most jetliners. In addition, during the winter, it is regarding 4 It was dark at 30:30, so it was difficult to find that the maritime protection aircraft had accidentally entered the runway.
▌Question 3: Why didn’t the JAL pilot notice anything unusual on the runway?
The JAL pilot who was preparing to land received instructions from the tower and started the landing procedure, and the information given by the tower was “nothing unusual on the runway.” When JAL Flight 516 was regarding to land, in front of the C-1 stop line at the end of the runway was Delta Air Lines flight DL276 bound for Detroit. However, because the maritime protection aircraft heading to the disaster area had to take off first, the maritime protection aircraft was given the opportunity to be closer to the center of runway C. C-5, the difference between the two was nearly 400 meters. After the Japanese plane landed and was taxiing on the runway, it was discovered that there was an extra plane in front of it, and it was difficult to dodge.
According to the subsequent investigation, the JAL crew did not notice the presence of the aircraft on the runway. Even at the time of the collision, the pilots were not sure what was going on. Maybe both parties were unaware of the other’s existence. According to the investigation released on January 11 In the progress statement, the JAL captain said, “After the impact, it was discovered that the entire flight system, including the braking and control systems, had failed. At that time, he realized that the aircraft might not be controlled.” Even the air traffic control personnel at the tower did not know why the explosion occurred at the moment of the incident, nor did they know what happened when the explosion occurred. The sum total of all aspects of the inquiry was, as the “accident triangle pyramid” theory calls it, ultimately powerless to prevent the accident from happening.
The Haneda Airport accident was caused by a combination of many unlucky factors. The picture on the left shows the airport tower, which is 1 meter away from the end of the runway where the accident occurred… The picture shows the wreckage of the JAL plane on the runway the day following the accident. Photo/Photography by Chen Weichen After the accident at Tokyo Haneda Airport, the wreckage of the two planes has been moved to the hangar for storage. The cockpit call recorder and the aircraft…
▌Question 4: What is the current progress of the investigation?
Thanks to the efforts of airport personnel, the wreckage of both planes has been moved to the hangar for storage, Runway C has been completely cleared, and takeoff and landing operations resumed at midnight on January 8. All black boxes of the two accident aircraft have been recovered. The Japan Transportation Safety Board (JTSB) will, with the assistance of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), decrypt the cockpit call recorder and flight data recorder. We will have a better understanding of what happened in the cockpit before and following the entire accident.
However, including data collection, inspection of the aircraft wreckage, decryption of the black box and follow-up investigation, as well as the analysis of all accident data, it may take a long time. The complete report and truth of the entire accident may take a year or two. It will be clear.
▌Question 5: What are the current improvement measures for this accident?
Since the cause of the accident pointed to a misunderstanding of the communication between the tower and the aircraft, and the failure of the mechanism to prevent the aircraft from accidentally entering the runway, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has urgently taken several measures to reduce the risk of similar accidents happening once more.
Regarding the tower call instructions, since the tower gave the maritime protection aircraft the first priority at that time, it may cause both parties to misunderstand the relevant instructions. Therefore, from now on, airports across Japan will temporarily not inform the aircraft sequence to avoid misunderstandings.
As for the anti-intrusion warning, although it was in operation, the air traffic control personnel were busy handling numerous flights and were unable to be distracted, thus missing the opportunity to prevent the accident. After the accident, under the instructions of the Ministry of Transport, Haneda Airport’s tower control added a new anti-intrusion warning. In addition to assisting air traffic control personnel in system monitoring, the system monitoring officer can also monitor takeoff and landing flights at the airport.
In addition to Haneda Airport, six other airports with frequent takeoffs and landings, including Narita, Chubu, Itami, Kansai, Fukuoka and Naha, have also successively deployed surveillance officers to eliminate the possibility of another tragedy. In addition, the runway itself will also change the material of the taxiway stop line, which will be replaced by a more reflective material, making it easier for pilots to identify the location of the stop line at night to prevent intrusions into the runway.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will also convene an expert meeting in the near future to comprehensively review the current airport control and operating procedures. It is necessary to avoid similar incidents from happening once more. This is also the key to restoring public confidence in flight safety in the future.
The cause of the accident pointed to a misunderstanding of the call between the tower and the aircraft, and the failure of the mechanism to prevent the aircraft from accidentally entering the runway… Chen Weichen
A media worker and senior political staffer, he likes to see the world through a lens. He currently lives in Tokyo, Japan. He likes to study railways, aviation, and military affairs, and observe Japanese politics, economy, culture, and history. He is the author of “My 24hrs in Japan: Diaries of Ordinary People’s Lives on the Streets”.
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