The Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) ATS Committee, also known as the Air Traffic Services Committee, recently released some materials online. For instance, the 36th Analysis Seminar regarding runway incursion prevention, features 1 hour and 20 minutes of content available for free on YouTube. Case studies are accompanied by specialized animations, and the detailed incident analysis makes the content extremely impressive.

Take the example of Kansai Airport, where Hawaiian Airlines Flight HAL 450 experienced a runway incursion, causing an All Nippon Airways flight on final approach to execute a go-around. The commentary is provided by two retired senior pilots and a controller. They delve into the deep psychology of both the controllers and the pilots, and analyze exactly how misunderstandings regarding “hold position” and “position and hold” arose between ATC and the flight crew. The expert analysis is profound and highly persuasive.

At the end of the video, a passage from Sidney Dekker’s The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error is mentioned, and it summarizes the issues perfectly.

• Human error is not the cause of trouble, but a manifestation of deeper problems lurking within the system.
• Complex systems are basically not unsafe. Complex systems exist under a trade-off between multiple incompatible goals (for example, safety and efficiency).
• Safety is never the only goal. People strive to satisfy multiple conflicting goals simultaneously.
• Humans are indispensable in creating safety. Humans are the only living beings who can strike a balance between safety and pressure within an actual operational environment.

The proper usage of “PAN-PAN” is also explained in detail over nearly an hour and a half. The word PAN originates from the French “panne,” meaning a general malfunction. Since the Aeronautical Information Manual Japan (AIM-J) revised the section on emergencies, a specific explanation was provided. Historically, Japan has been heavily influenced by the US in this regard and rarely used the international standard “PAN-PAN,” but with this revision, they have finally aligned with international standards.

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