Flight Safety By Steve Wightman, Airplane Pilot and Repairman. U.S. Army Ret.
Japan Airlines Airbus A350 Collision at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on January 3, 2024, with a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft is reminiscent of the 1977 Tenerife plane-to-plane collision in at least two ways; loss of life and communication failures. What was different this time is that 367 passengers survived the A350 crash. Not so lucky was the Coast Guard Crew: Five of six tragically died. It too was a failure to communicate, FTC.
Tenerife-like: The Coast Guard airplane was preparing to take off from the same runway the A350 was cleared to land on even though the Tower instructed the pilot to remain clear of the landing runway. He didn’t.
Under the piloting “see and avoid” rule, the A350 crew should have seen the C.G. airplane with strobe lights – glaring on the well-lit runway and aborting the landing – as I have many times due to an airplane or animal on the landing runway. This is part of every pilot’s training. Why didn’t they abort the landing?
Obviously, their attentions were elsewhere. Bang! The largely carbon composite A350 lit up like a Christmas tree in a bonfire! The pilots somehow kept the wheels rolling straight down the runway. A miracle itself after a colossal collision.
Once stopped, the passengers and crew had minutes if not seconds to safely evacuate. The passengers listened to the clear-headed crew. With emergency megaphones, the latter quickly guided 367 passengers to 3 safe exits. Their training paid off! The rapid escape and the timing could not have been accomplished better. Clear communications saved what could have been a Tenerife scale tragic day. I wholeheartedly salute the A350 crew. They did not lose a soul.
Lessons learned. I have never encroached on an active runway, not to mention, one with landing aircraft, but I have been talked down to by ATC for verifying a suspect clearance to enter or cross a runway. I imagined ATC thinking, “That dumb pilot keeps verifying if it is safe to cross.” My thinking is I’d rather be called dumb than be dead. So, ATC, you will have to live with my paranoia about runway safety. Remember Tenerife! A smidgeon of paranoia could have certainly saved that day.
Military lessons I still hold dear. With all things important I get a second opinion. Back in the day when I repaired critical components of army airplanes an inspector reviewed and approved my work before any such aircraft were returned to flight status. I still use this principle today – often with photos to verify my work.
Teamwork pays off and it saves lives. For example, ATC and pilots are a team. Why didn’t the A350 crew verify runway conditions? Were they more afraid of being seen as “dumb” than they were of causing another Tenerife? Let’s hope not.