Japan’s Tragic Plane Collision At Haneda Airport, One Year Later
January 2, 2025 marks the one-year anniversary of a fatal collision that killed nearly every passenger aboard a plane at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
On January 2, 2024, an Airbus A350-900, operating Japan Airlines Flight 516 (JAL516), and a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q300 operated by the Japan Coast Guard (JA722A) collided. As JAL516 was landing, the plane collided with JA722A, causing both planes to burst into flames. All 379 people aboard JAL516 survived the crash, but the same cannot be said for the Coast Guard’s plane. Only one of its six crew members, the captain, survived.
An investigation by the Japanese government determined that the Coast Guard’s plane had mistakenly entered the same runway as Japan Airlines Flight 516 to take off after being scheduled to fly to Niigata to deliver relief supplies to the people affected by an earthquake in Ishikawa and the surrounding area.
Following the crash, the Japan Transport Safety Board stated that the airport traffic controller was focused on monitoring JAL516, which was expected to land on the same runway JA722A erroneously entered.
The accident caused all runways at Haneda Airport to temporarily close during the busy New Year holidays, and many flights were diverted to Narita Airport, Chubu Centrair International Airport, and Kansai International Airport. In response to the tragedy, Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism installed a new air traffic controller post for the constant monitoring of aircraft at the airport. Brighter colors for stop lines before runway entrances were also introduced in several Japanese airports. Additionally, air traffic control is no longer permitted to use the phrase “number one,” as the investigation’s results determined that this phrase led the Coast Guard pilot to believe that he’d been given permission to enter the runway.
