As investigators suspect miscommunication was the cause of the fatal aircraft collision at Haneda Airport last week, the transport ministry announced on Tuesday new emergency safety measures aimed at ensuring more thorough surveillance and clearer orders on the runway.
The collision between a Japan Airlines (JAL) flight and a coast guard aircraft left five coast guard personnel dead, and released records show that runway entry clearance was not issued to the coast guard plane prior to it entering the runway.
The plan includes changes to how orders should be sent out from the control tower.
It is considered most likely that the coast guard captain misheard ※No. 1,§ a phrase used by the control tower to communicate the order of departure for planes in standby, with this taken as a green light to enter the runway. Given this, the announcement of the departure order will be halted from Monday, since it is not an absolutely necessary step in the takeoff procedure. Instead, the control tower will simply give takeoff clearance, to simplify orders.
Additionally, a new job in which the sole role is to monitor the radar that tracks activity on the runway has been introduced at Haneda Airport. Upon detecting the entry of a plane that has not yet been ordered to proceed, the staff member would immediately notify others. The ministry plans to introduce the same role at other major airports that have such a radar, such as Narita and Kansai International airports.
The plan also requires pilots to relearn the phrases used for orders by the control tower, as well as the repainting of runways of major airports to improve visibility.
The collision occurred Jan. 2 when the coast guard plane, which planned to fly to Niigata Prefecture to deliver aid following the Noto Peninsula earthquake, entered Runway C, where it was hit by the JAL plane, which was making a landing.
Both planes were engulfed in flames within minutes, and although the 379 passengers on the JAL flight managed to flee in time, five of the six coast guard personnel died, with the lone survivor 〞 the captain 〞 being seriously injured.
Multiple planes from Haneda Airport were delayed following the incident. The planes＊ remains were removed from the runway on Sunday, with Runway C, where the collision happened, resuming operations on Monday.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.