Investigators found multiple human errors to be the primary cause of the fatal collision between a Japan Airlines jet and a Japan Coast Guard (JCG) aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport earlier this year.
In a preliminary report released Wednesday, the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) identified crew confusion as the primary cause of the incident, noting that the JCG crew mistakenly believed they had clearance to enter the runway before being struck by Japan Airlines jetliner at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
Of the six people on board the JCG aircraft, only the captain survived, while all 379 passengers on board the Japan Airlines flight survived the crash.
The investigative report also highlighted several errors on the part of the air traffic controller who failed to notice the JCG plane had entered the runway due to a series of distractions. Controllers also did not notice the runway occupancy alert (alerting them to a potential collision) had been going off for about a minute.
Japan Airlines’ failure to recognize the JCG aircraft on the runway due to limited visibility was also identified as a contributing factor to the crash.
The investigation is ongoing.
