Japan investigates crash between two aircraft, focuses on runway safety
Japanese experts have begun investigating Tuesday’s collision between two aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, weeks after the global airline industry faced warnings about runway safety.
All 379 people aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 escaped following a collision with a Dash-8 Coast Guard turboprop that killed five of six crew on the smaller aircraft.
Experts have cautioned it is too early to pinpoint a cause and stress most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors.
Investigators are examining conversations between controllers and pilots and are expected to embark in coming days on a detailed examination of plane and airport systems.
Japanese authorities said on Wednesday the A350 was given permission to land, but the Coast Guard plane was not cleared for take-off, based on control tower transcripts.
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According to experts, physical evidence, radar data and witness testimonies or camera recordings are readily available at the accident site, which facilitates forensic work.
“An obvious question is whether the Coast Guard aircraft was on the runway and, if so, why,” said Paul Hayes, director of aviation safety at U.K.-based consultancy Ascend by Cirium.
The crash marks the first significant accident involving the Airbus A350, in service since 2015, and the first destruction by fire of a new generation of carbon-composite airliner.
Based on preliminary 2023 data, the collision between these two aircraft follows one of the safest years in aviation.
But it also comes weeks after a U.S. safety group called for global action to prevent a new spike in runway collisions or “incursions” as the skies become more congested.
“Despite efforts over the years to prevent incursions, they continue to occur,” Flight Safety Foundation CEO Hassan Shahidi said last month.
“The risk of runway incursions is a global concern, and the potential consequences are serious.”
With information from Reuters
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