Runway reopened at Tokyo Haneda Airport after two aircraft collided
The runway at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, where two planes collided on January 2, reopened Monday, local media reported.
Following the completion of the authorities’ on-site analysis, the removal of the charred wreckage of the passenger plane involved in the accident and the necessary repairs, operations on the airport’s runway C resumed at midnight on Monday, the public broadcaster NHK said.
The closure of this runway after the accident has caused more than 1,200 cancellations (about 200 per day) affecting more than 220,000 passengers, mainly on domestic flights, at a time of year particularly marked by domestic travel, as many Japanese are returning from Tokyo to their hometowns for the New Year.
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Despite the reopening of the runway, Japan Airlines (JAL), one of the two major airlines that uses this airport as one of its hubs, is still expected to continue canceling flights until January 10.
Today All Nippon Airways (ANA), the other major Haneda-based carrier, announced it would not suspend any of its scheduled flights for the first time since the accident, while JAL said 14 domestic services would be suspended on Monday.
The accident occurred Tuesday shortly after a JAL flight landed at Haneda and collided with a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft, causing both to catch fire and ultimately resulting in the deaths of five of the crew on the second plane.
All 379 occupants of the commercial flight managed to be evacuated, although 14 of them were injured, while of the six on the Coast Guard plane, only the captain, who was seriously injured, managed to save his life.
Although investigations continue, based on flight control communications and the first testimonies of both pilots, it is believed that the Coast Guard plane misunderstood the instructions when entering the runway.
With information from EFE
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