Summary
- ATC transcripts suggest that the Dash 8 – considered one of the planes involved within the recent Tokyo Haneda incident – was asked to carry in need of the runway while Japan Airlines’ A350 was landing.
- There are also reports that say the warning lights on the holding point were out of order through the incident.
- All passengers on Japan Airlines’ A350 were safely evacuated, but five individuals on the Coast Guard aircraft didn’t survive the incident.
Latest details have emerged concerning the collision of Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350 and a Japanese Coast Guard Dash 8 aircraft on January 2. The transcripts reveal that the air traffic control asked the Dash 8 to stop in need of the lively runway while the A350 landed. Reports about warning lights on the holding point being out of order have also added one other layer to the incident.
Dash 8 was asked to carry in need of the runway
Communication transcripts between the ATC and the 2 aircraft involved within the January 2 incident at Tokyo Haneda airport reveal that Japan Airlines’ A350 was cleared to land while the Coast Guard Dash 8 was asked to carry in need of the runway.
JAL was operating flight JL516 from Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda and was cleared to land on runway 34R. The Dash 8, nonetheless, was asked to an instruction which the pilots of the propellor aircraft acknowledged. Based on the transcripts, the communication seems straightforward, but only an official report will tell if there have been another gaps which will have led the Dash 8 to enter the lively runway by mistake.
This also contradicts the statement given by the captain of the Coast Guard plane earlier, who said through the investigation that they were cleared to enter the runway. More details will likely emerge in the approaching days because the investigation into the incident continues.
The Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) and the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) of France are looking into the reason behind the incident. Airbus can also be dispatching a team of specialists to assist with the investigation.
Latest reports about warning lights
Meanwhile, one other piece of data has surfaced concerning the possibility that the red lights that warn taxiing aircraft to stop in need of runway 34R were out of order on the time of the incident. A report by the BBC mentioned it, and Pete Muntean, a CNN correspondent, tweeted concerning the NOTAM related to the lights.
The investigators will certainly be looking into this as well to see if this will have played any significant role within the Dash 8 erroneously entering the runway.
All Japan Airlines passengers secure
The incident marked the first-ever hull lack of an Airbus A350 aircraft. The plane burst into flames after colliding with the Dash 8 and rolled down the runway with fire coming from the windows and engine area. Remarkably, all occupants of the aircraft were safely evacuated, with Japan Airlines releasing the next statement:
Unfortunately, five out of the six individuals onboard the Coast Guard aircraft perished within the crash. The plane’s captain was the just one who survived the crash. In line with local media, the propellor plane was on a mission to deliver vital supplies to Niigata Airport (KIJ)) in Ishikawa Prefecture, which was hit by a serious earthquake earlier.
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