Coast guard pilot likely did not hear JAL-tower comms before crash

Work to remove a burnt-out Japan Airlines plane from a runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport takes place on Jan.

6, 2024. (Kyodo)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The captain of the coast guard plane that was involved in a collision with a Japan Airlines aircraft this week at Tokyo's Haneda airport may have not heard the exchanges between the JAL plane and the airport traffic controller as his radio may have been set at a different frequency, a transport ministry official said Saturday.

According to the transcript of the radio communications released Wednesday by the ministry, the tower controller, who determines when planes can enter the runway and take off, gave clearance to the JAL plane to land before the deadly accident occurred at one of Japan's busiest airports at around 5:47 p.m.

Tuesday.

The transcript showed that the JAL pilot started communicating with the tower controller at 5:43.02 p.m., read back his permission to land and finished the communication before the coast guard pilot first called the tower at 5:45.11 p.m.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, departing aircraft usually follow the instructions of the ground controller and switch channels to the tower controller when they approach the runway.

The coast guard aircraft appears to have had its frequency set to that of the ground controller until just before switching to that of the tower, meaning the pilot may have not heard the tower controller giving the greenlight to the JAL plane to land, the ministry official said.

Following the accident, the captain of the coast guard plane, who was the only person on board his plane to survive, said he was cleared to enter the runway, according to the coast guard.

However the transcript shows the plane was only told by the tower traffic controller to "taxi to holding point," a spot where an airplane waits for clearance to enter a runway.

The Japan Transport Safety Board, the government agency in charge of probing serious accidents involving airplanes, trains and ships, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, are currently carrying out a detailed investigation into the accident, including the discrepancies in the statements by the JAL and the coast guard pilots.

"We are leaving it up to the Japan Transport Safety Board to conduct further investigations, regarding when the coast guard aircraft switched its frequency or how aware it was of the communication between the traffic control and other aircraft," the ministry official said.

The collision killed five people aboard the coast guard's Bombardier DHC8-300 aircraft, while all 379 people aboard the JAL Airbus A350 escaped despite flames engulfing the plane.

The accident forced the temporary closure of all four runways at Haneda during the busy New Year holidays.

All except the one on which the collision occurred were reopened later in the day after the cancellation of many flights.