One day, while taking photos at the observation deck on the roof of Terminal 2 at Haneda Airport, I watched helplessly as a Boeing 787 (registration JA809A), while landing, suddenly pulled up and went around just a few meters off the ground directly above the Runway.

This site has introduced quite a few topics about go-arounds, such as Airline Pilot Confidential 6.6 Go Around, Watching Go Arounds from Downtown Tokyo, Investigation Report on the JAL 777 Tail Strike, Did a Near Miss Occur Near Haneda Airport Today?, etc., but none were experienced on the scene.

This was the first time experiencing it personally, watching this 787 pull up right before my eyes. The flight itself was very smooth, and the pilot’s operation could truly be described as unhurried. At that time, there were probably over a hundred people on the terminal roof watching and photographing planes. Looking at the crowd around me, I felt that no one realized this was an abnormal go-around.

I hurriedly raised my camera and captured the 787 during the go-around,

Honestly, I have taken tens of thousands of photos at Haneda Airport, but this is the first time I have captured a flight attitude at such close range. After all, judging by the position of the Flaps, one can tell this shouldn’t be a position during takeoff.

This is another Boeing 787 taking off normally 10 minutes later, registration JA877A. Comparing its flight Altitude and position reveals the difference of the previous one. Also, you can see its Flaps were not extended as low as the one that went around.

I remember listening to the Tower ATC at the time. It took a while before I heard the pilot report to ATC, stating that there was a situation where landing was impossible, so they went around. No specific reason was mentioned.

Later, I checked the records on flightradar24, and learned it was flight NH58, performing a mission from New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido, to Haneda. After the go-around, it circled around Tokyo Bay for a small loop and landed safely.

By the way, I seem to have a strong connection with this JA809A that went around. The protagonists in Boeing 787 APU Inlet Door Open During Flight and Photographing the Hummingbird SID Takeoff are both this JA809A. It’s quite mysterious, isn’t it?