2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident

2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident
(JAL 907 and JAL 958)

Artist's conception of JA8904 (below) diving under JA8546 (above). The planes were less than 100 meters from each other at the moment of the near miss.
Accident summary
Date	January 31, 2001 (2001-01-31)
Type	Near miss, ATC error
Site	near Yaizu, Shizuoka, Japan
Total injuries	99 (9 serious)
Total fatalities	0
Total survivors	677 (all)
First aircraft
Type	Boeing 747-446D
Operator	Japan Airlines
Tail number	JA8904[1]
Flight origin	Tokyo Int'l Airport
Destination	Naha Int'l Airport, Okinawa
Passengers	411
Crew	16
Injuries	99 (9 serious)
Survivors	427 (all)
Second aircraft
Type	Douglas DC-10-40D
Operator	Japan Airlines
Tail number	JA8546[1]
Flight origin	Gimhae International Airport Busan, South Korea
Destination	Narita International Airport
Passengers	237
Crew	13
Injuries	0
Survivors	250 (all)

A Japan Airlines 747-400, similar to this Japan Airlines that nearly collided with JA8546.

A Japan Airlines Douglas DC-10-40, similar to this Japan Airlines Douglas DC-10-40D, nearly collided with JA8904.

The 2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident occurred on January 31, 2001, when Japan Airlines flight 907 (JA8904), a Boeing 747-400 en-route from Tokyo International Airport to Naha International Airport, nearly collided with Japan Airlines flight 958 (JA8546), a McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-40, which was en-route from Gimhae International Airport to Narita International Airport.

The incident was attributed to errors made by air traffic controller trainee Hideki Hachitani (蜂谷 秀樹, Hachitani Hideki^?) and trainee supervisor Yasuko Momii (籾井 康子, Momii Yasuko^?). The incident caused Japanese authorities to call upon the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to take measures to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

Flight information

Japan Airlines Flight 907, registration JA8904, was a 747-446 Domestic with 411 passengers and 16 crew making a domestic flight from Tokyo Haneda International Airport to Naha Airport. Japan Airlines Flight 958, registration JA8546, was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 with 237 passengers and 13 crew bound from Gimhae International Airport to Narita International Airport.^[2] Flight 907, using an aircraft registered as "JA8904," left Haneda at 3:36 pm.

According to the flight plan, JAL907 and JAL958 would pass each other while 2,000 feet apart.^[3]

Mid-air incident

JA8904's TCAS sounded 20 minutes after its departure^[3] as the jet climbed towards 39,000 feet. The DC-10, JA8546, cruised at 37,000 feet.^[2]

The mid-air incident occurred as flight attendants began to serve drinks onboard Flight 907.^[4]

The two planes were on a collision course towards each other. The pilots of both planes had received conflicting instructions from their TCAS and the flight controller at the Tokyo Area Control Center in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Flight 907, headed by 40-year-old pilot Makoto Watanabe (渡辺 誠, Watanabe Makoto^?), followed an order to descend issued by the flight controller while Flight 958, headed by pilot Tatsuyuki Akazawa (赤沢 達幸, Akazawa Tatsuyuki^?), descended as instructed by the TCAS, meaning that both planes remained on a collision course. The trainee for the aerospace sector, 26-year-old^[5] Hideki Hachitani (蜂谷 秀樹, Hachitani Hideki^?),^[6] handled ten other flights at the time of the near miss. Hachitani intended to tell Flight 958 to descend. Instead, at 3:54 p.m, he told Flight 907 to descend. When the trainee noticed that JAL 958 cruised at a level altitude instead of descending, the trainee asked JAL 958 to turn right; the message did not get through to the JAL 958 pilot. The trainee's supervisor, Yasuko Momii (籾井 康子, Momii Yasuko^?),^[7] ordered "JAL 957" to climb, intending to tell JAL 907 to climb. There was no "JAL 957" in the sky.^[2]

Watanabe avoided disaster when he abruptly forced the aircraft to dive based on a visual judgment.^[5] The aircraft missed each other by less than 100 meters.^[8] Watanabe said that the aircraft were 35 feet apart.^[9] An unidentified passenger told NHK "I have never seen a plane fly so close. I thought we were going to crash." Alex Turner, a passenger on Flight 907 and a student at Kadena High School, a school for children with parents stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, estimated that the avoidance maneuver lasted for two seconds.^[3]

Seven passengers and two crew members of the 747 sustained serious injuries; additionally, 81 passengers and 10 crew members reported minor injuries. Some unbelted passengers, flight attendants, and drink carts hit the ceiling, dislodging some ceiling tiles. ^[4] The maneuver threw one boy across four rows of seats.^[3] Most of the injuries to occupants consisted of bruising. The maneuvers broke the leg of a 54-year-old woman.^[3][10][11] In addition, a drink cart spilled, scalding some passengers. No passengers on the DC-10 sustained injuries.^[12] Flight 907, with the 747's cabin bearing minor damage, returned to Haneda, landing at 4:45 PM.

Thirteen students at Kadena High School had boarded Flight 907 after returning from a school-sanctioned ROTC competition.^[9] Two students from Michigan, United States, 15-year-old Meggan Wesche and 14-year-old Allison Ambrose, sustained some minor injuries and became hospitalized for a short time. Wesche, who had slipped out of her seat during the descent and became disoriented from the incident, received an X-ray and other examinations at Toho University Hospital. She said that her body felt like "the plane is going down again" even though she was on land. The following day the students left on another Japan Airlines flight and arrived in Okinawa.^[3][4]

Aftermath

By 18:00 on February 1 eight Flight 907 passengers remained hospitalized while 22 injured passengers had been released. Two passengers remained hospitalized at Kamata General Hospital (蒲田総合病院, Kamata Sōgō Byōin^?). Two passengers remained hospitalized at Ichikawa No. 2 Hospital (市川第2病院, Ichikawa Daini Byōin^?). In addition the following hospitals each had one passenger remaining: Takano Hospital (タカノ病院, Takano Byōin^?), Kitasato University, Horinaka Hospital (堀中病院, Horinaka Byōin^?), and Tokyo Rosai Hospital (東京労災病院, Tōkyō Rōsai Byōin^?).^[13] All injured passengers recovered.

JAL sent apology letters to the passengers on the 747; injured passengers directly received messages, and uninjured passengers received messages via the mail.^[14]

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) did not take action based on the occurrence of the near-miss.^[15] Japanese authorities called for measures that would prevent similar accidents from happening, but ICAO did not further investigate the incident until after the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision. The ICAO decided to fulfill Japan's request 18 months after the Japan Airlines incident.^[8]

Criminal investigation and trial

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport investigated the incident.^[9]

In May 2003 Tokyo police filed an investigative report concerning Hideki Hachitani, Yasuko Momii, and Makoto Watanabe, suspecting them of professional negligence. In March 2004 prosecutors indicted Hachitani and Momii for professional negligence.^[16]

Hachitani, then 30 years old, and Momii, then 35 years old, pleaded not guilty to the charges at Tokyo District Court in 2004.^[17] During the same year the lawyer for Hachitani and Momii said that the pilots of the aircraft bore the responsibility for the near miss.^[18]

By November 16, 2005, 12 trials had been held since the initial hearing on September 9, 2004. The prosecution argued that the two defendants neglected to provide proper separation for the two aircraft, the instructions issued were inappropriate, and that the supervisor failed to correct the trainee. The defense argued that the lack of separation would not immediately have led to a near miss, that the instructions issued were appropriate, that the TCAS procedure was not proper, and that the Computer Navigation Fix (CNF) had faulty data.^[19]

In 2006 prosecutors asked for Hachitani, then 31, to be sentenced to one year in prison and for Momii, then 37, to be sentenced to one and one half years.^[20] On March 20, 2006 the court ruled that Hachitani and Momii were not guilty of the charge.^[6][21][22] The court stated that Hachitani could not have foreseen the accident and that the mixup of the flight numbers did not have a causal relationship with the accident. Hisaharu Yasui, the presiding judge, said that prosecuting controllers and pilots would be "unsuitable" in this case.^[23] The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal with the Tokyo High Court on March 31. During the same year the Japanese government agreed to pay Japan Airlines and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance a total of 82.4 million yen to compensate for the near miss.^[24]

On April 11, 2008, on appeal, a higher court overturned the decision and found Hachitani and Momii guilty. The presiding judge, Masaharu Suda (須田 賢, Suda Masaharu^?), sentenced Hachitani, then 33, to confinement for one year, and Momii, then 39, for one year and six months. Both were placed on probation.^[25][26][27] Each of the two sentences was suspended for three years.^[22] Suda described the mixing of the flight numbers as a "rudimentary error."^[16] The lawyers representing the controllers planned to file appeals.^[28]

References

External links

	Japan portal
	Aviation portal

• Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission
  • (English) Aircraft Accident Investigation Report (Archive)
  • (Japanese) Aircraft Accident Investigation Report (Archive)
• Japan Airlines
  • TOKYO: JANUARY 31, 2001 - FLIGHT JL907 INCIDENT (Archive)
  • JANUARY 31 NEAR MISS - STATUS REPORT FEBRUARY 1 2001 (Archive)
  • JL907/JL958 NEAR MISS - CAPTAINS'REPORTS FEB 1 2001 (Archive)
  • JL907 (Japanese) - Contains a list of passengers injured on Japan Airlines Flight 907 (Japanese)
• The German Midair – Lessons to be Learned
• Close Call For JAL Jets CBS News
• Japan Jet in Mid-Air Near-Miss ABC News
• "Practical example of "Nazenaze analysis". Near miss of Japan Airlines jet.," Science Links Japan
• A REVIEW OF JAL907/JAL958 NEAR MID-AIR COLLISION.
• ９０７便、回避後降下で被害拡大 Mainichi Shimbun
• REPORT OF THE JAPAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS’ ASSOCIATIONS (JFATCA) To The 22nd IFATCA Asia Pacific Regional Meeting, Fukuoka, Japan (16-18 November 2005)