Yesterday, another major Air Traffic Control error occurred at Naha Airport in Okinawa. Since I had just summarized the incident involving the China Eastern A319 mistakenly entering the runway at Naha Airport, this has inevitably created a bit more distrust regarding the operations in Okinawa.

Of course, we must wait for the official investigation reports for specifics—it might not be impossible to wait 2 or 3 years for that. So, for now, let’s just summarize based on media reports. NHK Report Mainichi Shimbun Report <a href=http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201506/2015060300800>Jiji Press Report

Around 1:23 PM on June 3, 2015 (Yes, the China Eastern incident mentioned above happened around the same time of day!) An All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 737-800, Flight NH1694 bound for New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido (with 83 crew and passengers on board), received takeoff clearance from ATC. The aircraft began its takeoff roll from North to South along the runway. Upon reaching a speed of 240 km/h, the pilot was preparing to rotate for liftoff. However, at that moment, the pilot spotted a Japan Air Self-Defense Force CH-47 helicopter suddenly crossing the runway several hundred meters ahead. The pilots immediately executed a Rejected Takeoff (RTO) procedure, deployed the thrust reversers, and brought the aircraft to a stop past the midpoint of the runway. The CH-47 helicopter crossed the runway towards the west, then flew off towards the south side of the runway.

Up to this point, things were fine. The ANA pilots had averted a catastrophic mid-air collision, making this something of a comedy of errors. But the subsequent developments are truly terrifying. It turns out that there was another JTA (Japan Transocean Air) Boeing 737-400 on final approach to land at that very moment! This Boeing aircraft, arriving from New Ishigaki, was Flight JTA610 with 44 crew and passengers on board. It had already received landing clearance and was in the final stage of its approach.

The controller presumably realized the situation with the JTA aircraft in the air and instructed the pilot to Go Around. However, according to the later report from the JTA pilots, by the time they received the go-around instruction, the aircraft had already touched down. They had already deployed thrust reversers, putting them in a condition where they were unable to execute a go-around procedure.

Let’s look at the situation at that time: A military helicopter was crossing the runway; On the ground, an ANA passenger plane conducted an emergency rejected takeoff and stopped in the middle of that 3000-meter runway; Another JAL passenger plane had just touched down on the runway and was rushing towards the ANA plane in the middle at high speed…

Fortunately, after rolling for over a kilometer, the JAL (JTA) 737 managed to stop the aircraft. It was a sheer stroke of luck that a massive collision between the two planes was avoided. According to news reports, after coming to a stop, the JAL aircraft was only 400-500 meters away from the ANA aircraft!!

According to preliminary investigations, the helicopter pilot mistook the takeoff clearance issued to the ANA aircraft as an instruction for himself, which led to the runway incursion. However, the report provided by Air Traffic Control states that they had issued an instruction to the helicopter to hold short at the runway entrance.

Additionally, according to the Naha Aviation Weather Station of the Japan Meteorological Agency, the weather was clear with visibility of 25 km on that day.

To be continued