Plane Collision in Japan

[George K]

@Mik said in Plane Collision in Japan:

What was the other plane? Looks like a pretty good sized one in the fire.

Coast Guard aircraft (US?) sent to help with earthquake relief.

[Jolly]

@George-K said in Plane Collision in Japan:

If I had to guess, someone in ground traffic control is in a heap of trouble.

Your guess is pretty good. The Airbus was cleared to land. The Coast Guard plane was being held.

[jon-nyc]

It was Japanese coast guard

[89th]

I replayed the flight traffic (flightradar24) yesterday and noticed the Japanese Coast Guard plane was not listed (not transmitting ADSB data). Since this was coast guard, sometimes their data/transmitter is not displayed, but many times it is. I doubt that was a factor though, it was either a coast guard pilot who thought he was clear or a controller who gave the fatal direction to proceed. Either way, I had my eye on a Delta flight that was lined up to depart next on that runway after the JAL plane landed, it was a Tokyo-Detroit flight. Imagine the folks viewing the fireball out their window, too.

[Copper]

According to flightradar24

It was not equipped with a modern ADS-B transponder.

[89th]

Well, there ya go!

[kluurs]

The lack of the transponder and that the coast guard pilot failed to stay put would seem to suggest that the majority of fault is not with the air traffic controller. Still sad.

[89th]

From the video it also looks like the coast guard jet was only barely near the runway, which is why there was a collision but also why the JAL516 could still land on its wheels and come to a stop. I wonder if the coast guard jet thought he was further away from the runway than he actually was. You can see in the map above there are curved entry-ways to the runway, which is where the collision occurred (about 1/3 down the runway).

[Horace]

I hope there's no panicky CYA collateral damage with new rules and regulations that'll cost every flyer another few minutes every time they fly.

[Copper]

@Horace said in Plane Collision in Japan:

new rules and regulations

It's all about communication

[George K]

From the transcripts, it looks like JAL516 was cleared to land on 34R, and JA722A (the Coast Guard plane) was instructed to taxi to C5 and hold. Which he acknowledged.

[89th]

Yeah that was my guess, C5 is one of those entry paths to the main runway, and I'm guessing either the coast guard was stopped a bit beyond the C5 line or he started to enter the runway without approval.

[George K]

@89th said in Plane Collision in Japan:

Yeah that was my guess, C5 is one of those entry paths to the main runway, and I'm guessing either the coast guard was stopped a bit beyond the C5 line or he started to enter the runway without approval.

Ironically (?) the pilot of JA722A was the only survivor of that plane. Obviously, he did not hold on the taxiway as instructed.