© Reuters. Firefighters work on a burning Japan Airways’ A350 airplane at Haneda Worldwide Airport, in Tokyo, Japan January 2, 2024. REUTERS/Issei Kato
By Tim Hepher, Allison Lampert, David Shepardson and Valerie Insinna
PARIS (Reuters) – Japanese investigators are getting ready to probe the collision of two airplanes at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, weeks after the worldwide airline trade heard recent warnings about runway security.
All 379 individuals aboard a Japan Airways Airbus A350 escaped after a collision with a De Havilland Sprint-8 Coast Guard turboprop that killed 5 of six crew on the smaller plane.
Individuals aware of the investigation mentioned the Japan Security Transport Board (JTSB) would lead the probe with participation from businesses in France, the place the airplane was constructed, and Britain the place its two Rolls-Royce (OTC:) engines had been manufactured.
Specialists have cautioned it’s too early to pinpoint a trigger and stress most accidents are brought on by a cocktail of things.
However investigators are broadly anticipated to discover what directions got by controllers to the 2 plane, alongside an in depth examination of airplane and airport techniques.
A ministry official informed reporters in Japan on Tuesday that the A350 was trying to land usually when it collided with the Coast Guard airplane, also referred to as a Bombardier (OTC:) Sprint-8.
One of many first duties will probably be to get better black field recorders with flight knowledge and cockpit voice recordings.
Specialists mentioned the placement of the accident means bodily proof, radar knowledge and witness accounts or digital camera footage are prone to be available, easing the large forensic job.
“One obvious question is whether the coastguard plane was on the runway and if so why,” mentioned Paul Hayes, director of aviation security at UK-based consultancy Ascend by Cirium.
The crash is the primary vital accident involving the Airbus A350, Europe’s premier twin-engined long-haul jet, in service since 2015.
And based on preliminary 2023 knowledge, the collision of the Coast Guard airplane with a two-year-old jetliner thrice its size follows one of many most secure years in aviation.
Nevertheless it additionally comes after a U.S.-based security group warned final month in regards to the danger of runway collisions or “incursions”.
The Flight Security Basis referred to as for international motion to stop a brand new uptick in runway incursions as skies turn into extra congested.
“Despite efforts over the years to prevent incursions, they still happen,” CEO Hassan Shahidi mentioned in an announcement.
“The risk of runway incursions is a global concern, and the potential consequences of an incursion are severe.”
Though floor collisions involving harm or harm have turn into uncommon, their potential for lack of life is among the many highest of any class and near-misses are extra widespread.
A collision between two Boeing (NYSE:) 747s in Tenerife in 1977, killing 583 individuals, stays aviation’s most dangerous accident.
‘TECHNOLOGY GAP’
The Washington-based basis has discovered that breakdowns in communication and coordination can play a task in runway crashes or close to misses.
However a scarcity of electronics to keep away from collisions on the bottom, reasonably than within the air the place software program to set off avoidance has been out there because the Nineteen Eighties, can also be a priority.
“Many of the serious incidents could have been avoided through better situational awareness technologies that can help air traffic controllers and pilots detect potential runway conflicts,” Shahidi mentioned.
The Federal Aviation Administration says some three dozen U.S. airports are fitted with a system referred to as ASDE-X that makes use of radar, satellites and a navigation instrument referred to as multilateration to trace floor actions.
However Nationwide Transportation Security Board chair Jennifer Homendy mentioned in November the U.S. aviation community – a bellwether for airports worldwide – lacks enough expertise to stop runway incursions.
In 2018, Airbus mentioned it was working with Honeywell (NASDAQ:) on a system referred to as SURF-A or Floor-Alert designed to assist forestall runway collisions.
However no date for implementation has but been introduced and rolling out advanced new aviation techniques can take years.
Far-reaching reforms of European and U.S. air site visitors networks that would speed up the usage of such computerised techniques have confronted continual delays.
Airbus and Honeywell didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Steve Creamer, a former senior director on the Worldwide Civil Aviation Group, mentioned stopping a touchdown plane putting a airplane is among the many prime 5 international security priorities.
Though automated landings are rising, consultants say a lot nonetheless is determined by visible checks by pilots who could also be distracted by a excessive workload or the blur of a night-time runway.
“I think the investigation will focus a lot on the clearances … and then also what the (JAL) crew could see. Could they physically see that airplane on the runway,” mentioned former U.S. air accident investigator John Cox.
Lighting was a difficulty in a 1991 collision between a USAir airplane and SkyWest (NASDAQ:) Airways plane at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport in California, for instance.
“One of the things that came out of that was that the USAir crew physically could not see the SkyWest Metroliner there. Although it was on the runway, the lighting was such that you … physically couldn’t see it,” he mentioned.