2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident
日本航空機駿河湾上空ニアミス事故
Accident
Date31 January 2001 (2001-01-31)
SummaryNear miss, ATC error
SiteNear Yaizu, Shizuoka, Japan
35°N 138°E / 35°N 138°E / 35; 138
Total fatalities0
Total injuries100
Total survivors677
First aircraft

JA8904, one of the aircraft involved, seen at Tokyo Haneda International Airport in October 2006.
TypeBoeing 747-446D
OperatorJapan Airlines
IATA flight No.JL907
ICAO flight No.JAL907
Call signJAPAN AIR 907
RegistrationJA8904[1]
Flight originTokyo Int'l Airport, Tokyo, Japan
DestinationNaha Int'l Airport, Okinawa, Japan
Occupants427
Passengers411
Crew16
Fatalities0
Injuries100 (9 serious, 91 minor)
Survivors427
Second aircraft

JA8546, the other aircraft involved, seen at Nagoya-Komaki International Airport in April 1997.
TypeMcDonnell Douglas DC-10-40
OperatorJapan Airlines
IATA flight No.JL958
ICAO flight No.JAL958
Call signJAPAN AIR 958
RegistrationJA8546[1]
Flight originGimhae International Airport,
Busan, South Korea
DestinationNarita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
Occupants250
Passengers237
Crew13
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Survivors250

On 31 January 2001, Japan Airlines Flight 907, a Boeing 747-400 en route from Haneda Airport, Japan, to Naha Airport, Okinawa, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Japan Airlines Flight 958, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 en route from Gimhae International Airport, South Korea, to Narita International Airport, Japan. The event became known in Japan as the Japan Airlines near miss incident above Suruga Bay (日本航空機駿河湾上空ニアミス事故, Nihonkōkūki surugawan jōkū niamisu jiko). Had the accident occurred, it could have potentially been the worst mid-air collision (worse than the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision with 349 fatalities) and the worst air disaster of all time (exceeding the 583 fatalities of the Tenerife airport disaster).

The incident was attributed to errors made by air traffic controller (ATC) trainee Hideki Hachitani (蜂谷 秀樹, Hachitani Hideki) and trainee supervisor Yasuko Momii (籾井 康子, Momii Yasuko). The incident caused Japanese authorities to call upon the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to take measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

Flight information

The Boeing 747-446 Domestic, registration JA8904, was operating Flight 907 from Tokyo Haneda International Airport to Naha Airport with 411 passengers and 16 crew. The flight departed Haneda airport at 15:36 local time. Flight 907 was commanded by 40-year-old pilot Makoto Watanabe (渡辺 誠, Watanabe Makoto).

The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40, registration JA8546, was operating Flight 958 from Gimhae International Airport to Narita International Airport with 237 passengers and 13 crew.[2] Flight 958 was commanded by 45-year-old pilot Tatsuyuki Akazawa (赤沢 達幸, Akazawa Tatsuyuki).

According to the flight plan, both aircraft were supposed to pass each other while 2,000 feet (610 m) apart.[3]

Mid-air incident

The mid-air incident occurred as flight attendants began to serve drinks onboard Flight 907.[4] JA8904's traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) sounded 20 minutes after its departure[3] as the jet climbed towards 39,000 feet (11,887 m). The DC-10, JA8546, cruised at 37,000 feet (11,278 m).[2] The TCAS on both aircraft functioned correctly; a "CLIMB" instruction was annunciated for Flight 907. However, the flight crew received contradicting instructions from the flight controller at the Tokyo Area Control Center in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Flight 907 followed an order to descend issued by the flight controller while Flight 958 descended as instructed by the TCAS, meaning that the planes remained on a collision course.

The trainee for the aerospace sector, 26-year-old[5] Hideki Hachitani (蜂谷 秀樹, Hachitani Hideki),[6] handled ten other flights at the time of the near miss. Hachitani intended to tell Flight 958 to descend. Instead, at 15:54, he told Flight 907 to descend. When the trainee noticed that JAL 958 cruised at a level altitude instead of descending, the trainee asked JAL 958 to turn right; the message did not get through to the JAL 958 pilot. The trainee's supervisor, Yasuko Momii (籾井 康子, Momii Yasuko),[7] ordered "JAL 957" to climb, intending to tell JAL 907 to climb. There was not a JAL flight 957 in the sky at the moment of the incident, but it can be inferred that by "957" she meant flight 907.[2]

The aircraft avoided collision using evasive manoeuvre once they were in visual proximity, and passed within about 135 metres (443 ft) of each other.[lower-alpha 1][9] An unidentified passenger told NHK, "I have never seen a plane fly so close. I thought we were going to crash." Alex Turner, a passenger on Flight 907 and a student at Kadena High School, estimated that the avoidance manoeuvre lasted for two seconds.[3]

Seven passengers and two crew members of the 747 sustained serious injuries; additionally, 81 passengers and 10 crew members reported minor injuries. Some unbelted passengers, flight attendants, and drink carts hit the ceiling, dislodging some ceiling tiles.[4] The manoeuvre threw one boy across four rows of seats.[3] Most of the injuries to occupants consisted of bruising. The maneuvers broke the leg of a 54-year-old woman.[10][11] In addition, a drink cart spilled, scalding some passengers. No passengers on the DC-10 sustained injuries.[12] Flight 907, with the 747's cabin bearing minor damage and injuries, returned to Haneda, and made an emergency landing at 16:44. Flight 958 continued to Narita Airport, landing normally at 16:32.

Aftermath

JAL907 injury chart

By 18:00 on 1 February, eight Flight 907 passengers remained hospitalised, while 22 injured passengers had been released. Two passengers remained hospitalised at Kamata General Hospital (蒲田総合病院), while two other passengers remained hospitalised at Ichikawa No. 2 Hospital (市川第2病院). In addition, the following hospitals each had one passenger remaining: Takano Hospital (タカノ病院), Kitasato University, Horinaka Hospital (堀中病院), and Tokyo Rosai Hospital (東京労災病院).[13] All injured passengers recovered.

JAL sent apology letters to the passengers on the 747; injured passengers directly received messages, and uninjured passengers received messages via the mail.[14]

In its report on the accident, published in July 2002, the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission called on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to make it clear that TCAS advisories should always take precedence over ATC instructions.[15] A similar recommendation was made three months later by Germany's accident investigation body (the BFU) in light of the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision.[16] ICAO accepted these recommendations and amended its regulations in November 2003.[17][18]

Flight numbers 907 and 958 are still used by Japan Airlines for the same respective routes today, but are operated with an Airbus A350 and Boeing 737, respectively.

Criminal investigation and trial

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport investigated the incident.[9]

In May 2003, Tokyo police filed an investigative report concerning Hideki Hachitani (ATC trainee), Yasuko Momii (ATC Supervisor), and Makoto Watanabe (pilot of flight 907), suspecting them of professional negligence. In March 2004, prosecutors indicted Hachitani and Momii for professional negligence.[19]

Hachitani, then 30 years old, and Momii, then 35 years old, pleaded not guilty to the charges at Tokyo District Court in 2004.[20] During the same year, the lawyer for Hachitani and Momii said that the pilots of the aircraft bore the responsibility for the near miss.[21]

By 16 November 2005, 12 trials had been held since the initial hearing on 9 September 2004. The prosecution argued that the two defendants neglected to provide proper separation for the two aircraft, the instructions issued were inappropriate, and that the supervisor failed to correct the trainee. The defense argued that the lack of separation would not immediately have led to a near miss, that the instructions issued were appropriate, that the TCAS procedure was not proper, and that the Computer Navigation Fix (CNF) had faulty data.[22]

In 2006, prosecutors asked for Hachitani, then 31, to be sentenced to ten years in prison and for Momii, then 37, to be sentenced to 15 years in prison.[23] On 20 March 2006, the court ruled that Hachitani and Momii were not guilty of the charge.[6][24] The court stated that Hachitani could not have foreseen the accident and that the mixup of the flight numbers did not have a causal relationship with the accident. Hisaharu Yasui, the presiding judge, said that prosecuting controllers and pilots would be "unsuitable" in this case.[25] The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal with the Tokyo High Court on March 31. During the same year, the Japanese government agreed to pay Japan Airlines and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance a total of ¥82.4 million to compensate for the near miss (equivalent to ¥86 million in 2019).[26]

On 11 April 2008, on appeal, a higher court overturned the decision and found Hachitani and Momii guilty. The presiding judge, Masaharu Suda (須田 賢, Suda Masaharu), sentenced Hachitani, then 33, to 12 months imprisonment, and Momii, then 39, to 18 months imprisonment, with both sentences suspended for 3 years.[27] The lawyers representing the controllers appealed, but the convictions were upheld on 26 October 2010, by the Supreme Court.[28][29]

The events of the incident are documented in the final season 3 episode of the Discovery Channel documentary Aircrash Confidential.[30] The episode was first aired on 20 August 2018.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The closest passing distance was estimated by the investigation team from an analysis of the TCAS logs.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Tomita, Hiroaki (Investigator General, Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission). "Accident Investigation into a Near Mid-Air Collision Archived December 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine." June 12, 2005 (Queenstown, New Zealand).
  2. 1 2 3 "Blame pinned on air traffic controllers." Japan Times. Saturday February 3, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Childs, Jan Wesner (2 February 2001). "Kadena High students shaken by near-miss during flight over Japan". Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original (Web) on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 "JAL planes almost collide". Yomiuri Shimbun. Archived from the original on 5 January 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  5. ↑ ""Controllers blamed for near-miss". BBC. 2 February 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Court finds air traffic controllers not guilty over 2001 near miss." Kyodo World News Service.
  7. ↑ "Court clears air controllers in near miss". Yomiuri Shimbun, March 21, 2006.
  8. ↑ Final report section 3.2.6
  9. 1 2 Schaefer, Gary (3 February 2001). "Japanese police pursuing possibility of negligence in planes' near collision". Stars and Stripes. The Associated Press. Archived from the original (Web) on 5 January 2008.
  10. ↑ "Shigeyoshi Kimura, Associated Press Writer (January 31, 2001). "At least 35 airline passengers injured in near miss".
  11. ↑ "Close Call For JAL Jets Archived May 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine." CBS News. January 31, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Signals blamed for near collision." BBC. Thursday February 1, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
  13. ↑ "JL907便事故について" [Regarding the JL907 flight accident]. Japan Airlines (in Japanese). 1 February 2001. Archived from the original on 2 February 2001. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  14. ↑ "Japan Airlines apologises to near-miss victims." Airline Industry Information. February 9, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
  15. ↑ "report outline". International Civil Aviation Organization. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  16. ↑ "Investigation Report AX001-1-2" (PDF). German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation. 2 May 2004. p. 111. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
  17. ↑ Flight Safety Digest, March 2004
  18. ↑ "Deadly Crossroads," Mayday
  19. ↑ "Not guilty verdict revoked, 2 air controllers given suspended sentences" Associated Press. April 11, 2008. Retrieved on December 11, 2009.
  20. ↑ "2 air controllers in 2001 JAL near-miss accident plead not guilty". Japan Transportation Scan. 9 September 2004. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  21. ↑ "2 air-traffic controllers blame JAL pilots for near-miss". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 10 September 2004. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  22. ↑ "REPORT OF THE JAPAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' ASSOCIATIONS (JFATCA) To The 22nd IFATCA Asia Pacific Regional Meeting, Fukuoka, Japan (16-18 November 2005)." Air Traffic Control Association Japan. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  23. ↑ "Air traffic controllers face prison terms over 2001 near miss". Japan Transportation Scan. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012.
  24. ↑ "Court finds air traffic controllers not guilty over 2001 near miss." Japan Today.
  25. ↑ "'N' FORMATION". Official Magazine of the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association. No. 7. March 2006. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  26. ↑ "State to pay for '01 JAL near miss". The Japan Times. 1 April 2006. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  27. ↑ "2 air traffic controllers appeal guilty verdict". Japan Transportation Scan. Kyodo, Japan. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2023 – via The Free Library.
  28. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. ↑ "Air traffic controllers' guilty verdicts final". The Japan Times. 9 December 2010.
  30. ↑ Barrett, Mathew; Griffiths, Alan; McNab, David; et al. (2011). Prince, Stephen; Gilbert, Roy (eds.). Aircrash Confidential (TV Documentary) (Flying Blind ed.). Discovery Channel: MMXI World Media Rights Limited; WMR Productions; IMG Entertainment.
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