The transport ministry announced emergency safety steps on Tuesday following a deadly plane collision at Tokyo's Haneda airport, clarifying the information that air traffic controllers can provide to planes to prevent any miscommunication.
In the accident, which occurred a week ago and involved a Japan Airlines jetliner and a coast guard aircraft, the tower traffic controller told the coast guard plane it would be "No. 1" to take off, possibly leading the captain to wrongly assume he was cleared to enter the runway where the collision happened.
Under the emergency steps, controllers cannot tell aircraft which number in line they are for takeoff. Such information had been provided to facilitate traffic but was not mandatory.
Airports will strengthen monitoring to prevent erroneous runway entries by assigning personnel to constantly check screens that alert staff if an aircraft enters a runway already assigned to another plane, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. During last week's accident, the alert was not noticed.
"It is our major mission to restore trust in aviation," transport minister Tetsuo Saito told a press conference, noting that his ministry plans to come up with permanent measures to prevent similar accidents from happening again following accident investigations and discussions involving a panel of experts.
According to the radio communications transcript released by the ministry, the tower controller, who determines when planes can enter the runway and take off, cleared the JAL plane to land before the accident.
The controller then told the coast guard plane "good evening, No. 1, taxi to the holding point," a spot where an airplane waits for clearance to enter a runway. The plane echoed the holding point and added, "No. 1, Thank you."
Following the accident, the captain of the coast guard plane, who was the only person on board who survived, said he believed he had received clearance to enter the runway, according to the coast guard.
According to a person familiar with the pilot profession, the phrase "No. 1" simply means that the plane is given the highest priority for takeoff, but it could make a pilot feel the need to rush.
The collision killed five people aboard the coast guard's Bombardier DHC8-300 aircraft, while all 379 people aboard the JAL Airbus A350 escaped without life-threatening injuries despite flames engulfing the plane.
According to the ministry, some of the emergency measures have already been introduced at Haneda airport.
Six other airports with a similar system for detecting potentially risky runway entries, including Narita International Airport near Tokyo, will also assign personnel for constant monitoring.
The ministry also plans to hold an emergency meeting on communication between air traffic controllers and pilots to look into any other terminology that could cause misunderstandings and consider countermeasures.
Markings showing the stopping area on taxiways will also be repainted to make them more visible at seven airports, in addition to Haneda, which has already finished doing so at the runway where the collision occurred.
Related coverage:
Runway at Tokyo's Haneda reopens after JAL jetliner collision
Coast guard pilot unlikely heard JAL-tower comms before crash
Runway entry alert operating normally during Tokyo airport collision
