TOKYO, Feb 14 (News On Japan) - This month, it was revealed that a Japan Airlines passenger plane entered a taxiway different from the one instructed by air traffic controllers at San Diego Airport in the United States and crossed the stop line before the runway, prompting another passenger plane to go around during its landing attempt. Japan Airlines had also experienced an incident in November of last year at Seattle Airport in the United States, where a plane mistakenly entered a runway.
On February 13, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism conducted an on-site inspection of the company to examine its safety management system.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, on February 6 at San Diego Airport in the United States, a Japan Airlines passenger plane bound for Narita Airport entered a taxiway different from that instructed by the controllers and crossed the stop line before the runway. Although the plane did not enter the runway after being pointed out by the controllers, another passenger plane that was preparing to land had to execute a go-around just before landing. In response to the company's inquiry, the pilot stated, "I misunderstood that the point where we were supposed to turn was further ahead. I realized something was wrong and stopped as soon as the control tower gave instructions, but by then, we had already crossed the stop line."
Furthermore, in November of last year, a Japan Airlines passenger plane departing from Narita Airport landed at Seattle Airport in the United States and, despite not receiving instructions from the controllers, entered and crossed the adjacent runway before heading to the parking area. At that time, the Japan Airlines aircraft misheard the instructions from the controllers and repeated back different instructions. There was no immediate correction from the controllers, and it was only after the incorrect entry that they were alerted to the mistake.
In both incidents, there were no injuries reported. Following these consecutive troubles, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism conducted a surprise inspection at the Japan Airlines operations headquarters at Haneda Airport on February 13, based on the Civil Aeronautics Act, to investigate the safety management system. Japan Airlines stated, "We are currently investigating and cannot comment at this time."
Source: NHK
