The Japanese Coast Guard plane that collided with a commercial airliner at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday. I was not authorized to enter the trackthe Government of Japan said this Thursday.
“There was nothing in the transcription of the communications that could be considered an authorization to enter the runway,” said Toshiyuki Onuma, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Office of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
Onuma referred to the flight control communications published by the Japanese Ministry of Transportation.
However, the captain of the coast guard boat and the only survivor of the six crew members, said that the device was authorized to enter the runway. In other statements he indicated that the plane had received authorization to take off.
In the records of communications between air traffic controllers and the commercial flight company, Japan Airlines (JAL), also there is no indication of any landing delaywhich led experts to suggest It is possible that both sides were unaware of the presence of another plane on the runway.
According to public broadcaster NHK, the JAL pilot told the company that he had not seen any aircraft as he approached the runway and that he had received clearance from controllers to land.
The Ministry of Transportation, through its Transportation Safety Board (JTSB), is investigating the accident that occurred at Haneda airport, one of the busiest in the country, after the JAL commercial flight from Sapporo (north of Japan) collided with the Coast Guard plane. on Tuesday.
The accident occurred at 17:47 (09:47 in Lisbon) and caused a fire in both planes, forcing the passengers and crew to be evacuated.
The 379 occupants of the commercial flight managed to get off the plane alive, but 14 were injured. Of the six occupants of the Coast Guard plane, only the commander, who was seriously injured, escaped with his life.
The Coast Guard plane was on its way to transport food and water to the area affected by the strong earthquake that hit the western coast of central Japan on Monday.
JAL estimated losses from the accident at around 15 billion yen (about €95.7 million), according to NHK.
The Japanese airline added that the loss of the Airbus A350 will be covered by the insurance company and said it is analyzing the impact of the accident on the commercial results of this fiscal year, which ends on March 31, including the reduction in sales due to the flights. . cancellations and compensation to affected passengers.
Source: TSF
