Tokyo CNN –
A Japanese Coast Guard plane that collided with a passenger plane at Tokyo's Haneda International Airport had only been instructed to “taxi to the holding point” and had not been cleared to take off, according to an official transcript of air traffic control communications released Wednesday.
In the fatal accident, Japan Airlines Flight 516 crashed into the Coast Guard plane after landing on the runway on Tuesday, triggering a horrific fireball.
All 379 people on the Japan Airlines (JAL) plane were safely evacuated. According to Japanese Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito, five of the six crew members of the smaller coast guard plane died.
Saito released on Wednesday the transcript of more than four minutes of communication between air traffic controllers and the two planes immediately before the accident. This shows that the Japan Airlines flight was granted permission to land, but there is no clear take-off clearance for the Coast Guard aircraft.
In another development, publicly available records appeared to indicate that out-of-order warning lights – designed to prevent pilots from accidentally taxiing onto the runway – may have been another factor in the crash.
Kyodo News/AP
The burned-out Japan Airlines plane is pictured at Haneda Airport on Wednesday.
According to the protocol, air traffic control cleared the JAL passenger aircraft to land on runway 34R at 5:43:26 p.m. local time (3:43:26 a.m. ET).
However, the log does not show clear clearance for the Coast Guard aircraft to take off, instead instructing it to “taxi to the holding point” at 5:45:11 p.m. (3:45:11 a.m. ET). The crew of the Coast Guard aircraft confirmed the order seconds later, according to protocol.
About two minutes later, the JAL flight collided with the Coast Guard plane on the runway, according to the timestamp on the airport's surveillance video.
Transport Minister Saito told reporters on Wednesday that the incident was “still under investigation” and the next step was to listen to the audio recording of the conversation between the coast guard pilot and the air control tower.
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He added that the Ministry of Transport is taking all precautions to prevent such an accident from happening again.
In a briefing following Saito's news conference, Japan Transportation Safety Board (JTSB) officials said they had seized the Coast Guard plane's flight and voice recorders. However, they added that they were still looking for those from the JAL plane.
Another factor that could potentially be examined as part of the investigation into Tuesday's collision is that runway lights – known as runway stop bar lights, which are designed to deter pilots from accidentally taxiing onto the runway – are public According to accessible information, records may have been out of order.
A bulletin to pilots said stop bar lighting was “unusable” on taxiways C1 to C14, which includes the taxiway where Haneda Tower controllers instructed the Coast Guard flight to stop and wait for takeoff clearance . The notice – or NOTAM – was first published publicly on December 25, 2023 and remains active.
A JTBS official told reporters that the air traffic controller cleared the JAL plane to land on runway 34R and instructed the Coast Guard plane to “hold the point.”
The release of the log came after Japan Airlines said in a statement late Tuesday that its crew had received permission to land from air traffic control before the collision.
LiveATC.net's audio appears to detail the crew reading a runway 34 clearance order that reads: “Clear to land on runway 34 right.”
Japan Airlines has pledged its full cooperation in the investigation to determine responsibility for the fatal crash.
Passengers aboard the Japan Airlines plane, an Airbus A350, and witnesses to the collision described horror giving way to relief when it became clear that everyone on board had survived.
Incredibly, Japan Airlines said only one person on board its plane suffered bruises, but 13 “sought medical advice for physical discomfort.”
Runway incursions, as incidents of this type are classified, are “rare but can be catastrophic,” said Graham Braithwaite, a professor of safety and accident investigation at Britain's Cranfield University.
CNN's Helen Regan, Pete Muntean and Lauren Koenig contributed reporting.