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Dash 8 Entered Runway Without Permission Before Haneda Accident, ATC Transcript Shows

Sean Broderick Chen Chuanren January 03, 2024

 

Wreckage of Japan Coast Guard Dash 8 at Tokyo Haneda Airport, Jan. 3, 2024

Credit: Richard A. Brooks/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON and SINGAPORE—The Japan Coast Guard De Havilland Canada Dash 8 struck by an arriving Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 at Tokyo International Airport Jan. 3 was on the runway despite air traffic control (ATC) instructions to hold short on an intersecting taxiway—directions that one of the Dash 8 pilots read back correctly, a transcript released by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) shows.

“Tower, JA722A C,” someone from the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) Dash 8-300 radioed to Tokyo Haneda (HND) tower ATC, indicating the aircraft is checking in from Taxiway C with its tail number as a call sign, according to the transcript.

“JA722A, Tokyo tower good evening,” a controller responded. “Number one, taxi to holding point C5.”

The “number one” suggests the aircraft is next in line to depart. The rest is clear: Move to the marked stopping point on taxiway C5, which connects to HND’s Runway 34 Right (34R).

“Taxi to holding point C5 JA722A, number one, thank you,” someone on the JCG Dash 8 said.

But instead of stopping at the hold-short line on C5, the Dash 8 taxied onto the runway.

Ten seconds before the exchange began, ATC cleared JAL Flight 516 (JAL516), the inbound A350-900, to land on 34R.

Surveillance video shows the Dash 8 moved onto 34R and stopped—something a pilot would do if executing a “line up and wait” ATC command that gives an aircraft permission to enter the runway but not depart.

Nearly 50 sec. after the Dash 8 stopped, the A350, which touched down seconds before closer to the runway end, struck the national guard aircraft. Five of the six Dash 8 occupants died, while all 379 onboard JAL516 evacuated safely once the widebody came to rest.

According to a transcript excerpt released by MLIT, JAL516 contacted Tokyo Tower at 5:43:02 p.m. local time, and was instructed by tower controller to continue its approach to runway 34R. JAL516, first in line to land, read back ATC’s instructions.

JAL516 was then cleared to land at 5:44:56 p.m. and a pilot read back the instructions.

At 5:45:11 p.m., JA722A called into tower frequency notifying of its position on taxiway C. ATC gave the instructions to proceed to the C5 hold line, which JA722A confirmed eight seconds later.

Communications from several other aircraft are detailed in the transcript excerpt, including departing Delta Air Lines and JAL flights told to hold short at C1 as well as another arriving JAL flight.

The transcript ends before the collision. A JAL statement puts JAL516’s arrival time at 5:47 p.m.

The exchange suggests how ATC instructions were given and followed will be one of the key focus areas for investigators as they work to piece together the accident’s chain of events.

Also of interest will be the status and condition of airfield lighting and safety aids. A Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) issued Dec. 27, 2023, and effective through late February lists several airfield aids at HND as out of service. Among them: lights that illuminate stop bars along the connections between Taxiway C to the accident runway, including C5. Runway 34L centerline lights were also listed as inoperative. It is not clear if the C5 stop bar lights or centerline lights were working at the time of the accident.

Investigators will also look closely at how an aircraft could be on an active HND runway for nearly 1 min. without being detected, even in the dark. An ICAO document shows HND is one of many airports that uses surface movement radar—a long-used method of supplementing the visual view of the airfield controllers have. The system’s performance and controllers’ familiarity with it are other likely topics investigators will probe.

The Japan Safety Transport Board (JTSB) is leading the accident investigation with assistance from several organizations, including Airbus and investigators from France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA). JTSB has recovered the Dash 8 cockpit voice recorder.

The accident caused the cancellation of 137 domestic and four international flights from HND on Jan. 3, MLIT said.

First Airbus A350 Hull-Loss After Haneda Runway Incursion

Jens Flottau January 02, 2024

JAL Airbus A350-900, Tokyo Haneda Jan. 2, 2024

Credit: STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images

A Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350-900 and a Japanese Coast Guard De Havilland Canada Dash 8 have been completely destroyed in a ground collision at Tokyo’s Haneda airport shortly after the JAL aircraft’s touch-down.

All 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the A350 managed to escape the burning aircraft, but five of the six on board the Coast Guard aircraft have died. JAL said 13 passengers required medical attention. The airline also said the total passenger count included eight infants.

The accident is the first ever A350 hull-loss and Japan Airlines’ first accident since 1985.

JAL stated “[Flight] JL516 was involved in a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft during its landing at Haneda Airport, resulting in a fire on the runway,” adding, “our thoughts and prayers are with the deceased members of the Japan Coast Guard. We want to assure you that all passengers and crew on our flight were safely evacuated.”

The carrier said it will “provide our full cooperation in the investigation of this unfortunate event.”

Airbus said, “In line with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 recommendations, Airbus will provide technical assistance to the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) of France and to the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) in charge of the investigation. For this purpose, Airbus is presently dispatching a team of specialists to assist the authorities.”

The aircraft manufacturer stated that “the exact circumstances of the event are still unknown.”

The A350 was operating flight JL516 from Sapporo with 367 passengers and 12 crew members and was landing at Haneda’s runway 34R at 5:47 p.m. local time, about 12 min. later than scheduled.

“The aircraft did not experience any issues or irregularities during its departure from New Chitose Airport or throughout the flight,” JAL said in a second statement. The A350’s pilots “acknowledged and repeated the landing permission from air traffic control, and then proceeded with the approach and landing procedures,” the airline added.

According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft was crossing the runway threshold at a normal approach speed of 122 kt. and touched the ground shortly thereafter. Airport video footage shows how the aircraft was travelling down the initial part of the runway, when suddenly it appeared to hit an obstacle with large flames erupting. With its nose gear collapsed, the aircraft continued sliding down the runway and came to rest close to the end and to the right of it, not far from the airport perimeter fence on the edge of Tokyo Bay. A picture taken by one passenger shortly after having evacuated the aircraft, shows substantial impact damage to the nose of the aircraft and the nose gear missing.

The Coast Guard aircraft had reportedly loaded aid for support victims of Monday’s earthquake on the Noto Peninsula and was understood to be preparing to take off for a flight to Niigata Air Base.

Pictures of the A350 also show that escape slides had been deployed at the two front doors and the left rear door. Passengers appeared to not use the right rear door. While emergency services attempted to extinguish the fire, the aircraft ultimately burnt down completely.

“The aircraft’s announcement system malfunctioned during the evacuation, so cabin crew members conducted instructions using a megaphone and their voices,” JAL said. “Cabin crew members determined safe exits for evacuation, and all passengers and crew members evacuated through three emergency exits.”

According to the Aviation Week Network Fleet Discovery database, the aircraft registered JA13XJ (MSN 538) was delivered to JAL on Nov. 10, 2021. It had since accumulated 4,421 flight hrs. in 3,220 cycles. The aircraft was equipped in the high-density 367-seat configuration JAL has installed for domestic and short-haul flights. These include 12 seats in first, 94 in business and 263 in economy. The Coast Guard aircraft was a Dash 8-315Q registered JA722A. It has been delivered on Feb. 26, 2008. The aircraft had 7,573 hrs. and 2,700 cycles.

Haneda, one of Tokyo’s two international airports, stopped all take-offs or landings temporarily. According to Flightradar24, 110 flights scheduled to land at Haneda on the evening of Jan. 2 were either canceled or diverted to other airports including Tokyo-Narita.

Composite Structure Flammability

JL516 is the first A350 completely destroyed in an accident. The investigation could provide valuable insight into the flammability of large composite aircraft structures based on in-service experience that have so far been unavailable. In July 2013, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 suffered substantial, but much smaller, fire damage caused by a thermal runaway of the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) battery when on the ground at London Heathrow.

Flammability experts know composite-skinned airframes burn “inherently differently” than their aluminum counterparts, a 2012 U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory study on the subject noted. Aircraft composite material is a beneficial insulator that can help resist heat from nearby sources, such as an external fire, the study said. But those same properties make it difficult to cool down once it has heated up and present challenges for extinguishing parts of a fire that are hidden from firefighters.

Informal Boeing guidance on fighting composite aircraft fires issued after the 787 was introduced does not recommend “any major changes” from standard protocol.

“Extensive testing has been conducted in regards to combustibility and toxicity related to the composite structure,” the document, last updated in 2022, said. “This design not only adds to the strength of the product, but also makes it a good barrier to fire and heat. The structure does not aid in the spread of fire and acts as a barrier creating greater difficulty for an exterior fire to penetrate an intact fuselage. From a toxicity perspective, the composite structure during fire testing poses no greater hazard than an aluminum fuselage aircraft. Also, note that the burn through time on the composite structure is significantly longer than with the aluminum fuselage which may inherently provide greater safety to both the rescue fire responders and passengers in some scenarios.”

The accident will add to learnings from recent passenger evacuation and broader cabin safety improvement efforts. While the exact sequence of the evacuation will form part of the accident investigation, it is clear that all 379 people on board a densely configured widebody managed to escape the aircraft with only three of the four main slides being used.

JAL’s last hull-loss occurred on Aug 12, 1985, when a Boeing 747SR crashed into a mountain en route from Haneda to Osaka. The aircraft’s hydraulic systems ruptured after a violent failure of the rear pressure bulkhead. In one of the worst accidents in commercial aviation history, 520 people on board died, four survived.

With Dan Williams in London, Chen Chuanren in Singapore and Sean Broderick in Washington.