About a year ago, I introduced the Hummingbird Departure Procedure at Tokyo International Airport. I mentioned that the reason this departure is extremely popular is that “you can capture a photo of the aircraft with Mount Fuji.” However, the shooting conditions are quite difficult because “the conditions require a winter morning, a north wind, taking off from RWY 34L, and limited to flights before 8:00 AM. Even if the weather meets these conditions, there are only 3 flights per day that can use this procedure.”

Later, I saw a report stating that to reduce ground noise pollution, the Hummingbird Departure would be cancelled. Pressure creates motivation: the weekend forecast predicted clear skies, so I headed out early, well before 6 AM while it was still dark, and rushed to Terminal 1 at Haneda Airport to wait for the shoot.

At 7:10 AM, a British Airways Boeing 777 arriving from London flew in first. I heard “Speedbird” on the ATC, so I hurriedly took a photo of it with Mount Fuji.

At 7:30 AM, the first aircraft using the Hummingbird Departure finally took off. I heard “RWY 34L, cleared for takeoff” on the ATC, and immediately got my camera ready. The flight number seemed to be JAL0277 heading to Izumo, though my memory is a bit fuzzy. Unfortunately, it pulled up too early, making composition almost impossible. This photo was a failure.

5 minutes later, JAL flight JAL0213, destined for Nanki-Shirahama, departed. This time it climbed a bit lower than the previous one, so the composition is passable. Just barely passing, I guess.

Another 5 minutes passed, and an ANA Boeing 787 arrived, possibly flight ANA3811 to Yamaguchi Ube. This was the last flight of the day taking off from RWY 34L. After setting up the composition, I waited for the aircraft to enter the Mount Fuji area. I used continuous shooting to capture nearly 10 shots. I picked the one that looks decent enough to post.

Speaking of which, I have quite a connection with JA809A in the photo. I photographed it before in Boeing 787 APU Inlet Door Opened During Flight; that was 5 years ago.