2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident

2001 mid-air incident in Japan May 2023 2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incidentJapan Airlines Flight 907Japan Airlines Flight 958 2001 01 31 y Near miss, Air traffic controller error Mid-air incident Near Yaizu, Shizuoka, Japan 0 100 677 Boeing 747-446D JAL Japan Airlines Boeing 747-400D; JA8904, March 2004.jpg JA8904, the Boeing 747-446D involved in the incident Japan Airlines JL907 JAL907 JAPAN AIR 907 JA8904Tomita, Hiroaki (Investigator General, Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission). "Accident Investigation into a Near Mid-Air Collision https://web.archive.org/web/20151210220627/http://www.asasi.org/papers/2005/Hiroaki%20Tomita%20-%20near%20collision%20in%20Japan.pdf December 10, 2015 ." June 12, 2005 (Queenstown, New Zealand). Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan Naha International Airport, Okinawa, Japan 427 411 16 0 100 427 McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 Photo of Japan Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 JA8546 at Nagoya-Komaki International Airport.jpg JA8546, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 involved in the incident Japan Airlines JL958 JAL958 JAPAN AIR 958 JA8546 Gimhae International Airport, Busan, South Korea Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan 250 237 13 0 0 250 title,inline On 31 January 2001, Japan Airlines Flight 907, a Boeing 747-400 en route from Haneda Airport, Japan, to Naha Airport, Okinawa, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Japan Airlines Flight 958, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 en route from Gimhae International Airport, South Korea, to Narita International Airport, Japan. The event became known in Japan as the {{nihongo|Japan Airlines near miss incident above Suruga Bay |日本航空機駿河湾上空ニアミス事故|Nihonkōkūki surugawan jōkū niamisu jiko}}. The incident was attributed to errors made by air traffic controller (ATC) 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 Boeing aircraft and crew The Boeing 747-446 Domestic, registered as JA8904 (First flew and Delivered to Japan Airlines in 1992)July 2025, was operating Flight 907 from Tokyo Haneda International Airport to Naha Airport with 411 passengers and 16 crew. The flight departed Haneda airport at 15:36 local time. Flight 907 was commanded by 40-year-old pilot Makoto Watanabe 渡辺 誠 Watanabe Makoto. McDonnell Douglas aircraft and crew The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40, registered as JA8546 (First flew in 1980, and delivered to Japan Airlines in 1981),July 2025 was operating Flight 958 from Gimhae International Airport to Narita International Airport with 237 passengers and 13 crew. 2001-02-03 Blame pinned on air traffic controllers https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/02/03/national/blame-pinned-on-air-traffic-controllers/ https://web.archive.org/web/20211121143721/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/02/03/national/blame-pinned-on-air-traffic-controllers/ 2021-11-21 2026-01-23 The Japan Times en Flight 958 was commanded by 45-year-old pilot Tatsuyuki Akazawa 赤沢 達幸 Akazawa Tatsuyuki. According to the flight plan, both aircraft were supposed to pass each other while 2000 ft m 0 apart.Childs Jan Wesner Kadena High students shaken by near-miss during flight over Japan http://www.stripes.com/01/feb01/ed020201g.html December 11, 2009 Stars and Stripes February 2, 2001 https://web.archive.org/web/20090422185238/http://www.stripes.com/01/feb01/ed020201g.html 2009-04-22 Web Mid-air incident The mid-air incident occurred as flight attendants began to serve drinks onboard Flight 907.http://www.fsv2000.at/woche/2001_05/daily_yoijuri.htm JAL planes almost collide https://web.archive.org/web/20080105110047/http://www.fsv2000.at/woche/2001_05/daily_yoijuri.htm January 5, 2008 Yomiuri Shimbun December 11, 2009 JA8904's traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) sounded 20 minutes after its departure as the jet climbed towards 39000 ft m 0 out. The DC-10, JA8546, cruised at 37000 ft m 0 out. The TCAS on both aircraft functioned correctly; a "CLIMB" instruction was issued to Flight 907. However, the flight crew received contradicting instructions from the flight controller at the Tokyo Area Control Center in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Flight 907 followed an order to descend issued by the flight controller while Flight 958 descended as instructed by the TCAS, meaning that the planes remained on a collision course. The trainee for the aerospace sector, 26-year-old"https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1149664.stm Controllers blamed for near-miss BBC February 2, 2001 December 11, 2009 Hideki Hachitani 蜂谷 秀樹 Hachitani Hideki,"Court finds air traffic controllers not guilty over 2001 near miss." Kyodo World News Service. handled ten other flights at the time of the near miss. Hachitani intended to tell Flight 958 to descend. Instead, at 15:54, 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,"Court clears air controllers in near miss". Yomiuri Shimbun, March 21, 2006. ordered "JAL 957" to climb, intending to tell JAL 907 to climb. There was not a JAL flight 957 in the sky at the moment of the incident, but it can be inferred that by "957" she meant flight 907. The crew of Flight 907 avoided the collision by using an evasive manoeuvre once the aircraft were in visual proximity, and they passed within about 135 m ft 0 of each other.The closest passing distance was estimated by the investigation team from an analysis of the TCAS logs.Final report section 3.2.6Schaefer Gary February 3, 2001 Japanese police pursuing possibility of negligence in planes' near collision http://www.stripes.com/01/feb01/ed020301i.html Stars and Stripes The Associated Press PoliceInvestigation https://web.archive.org/web/20080105042103/http://www.stripes.com/01/feb01/ed020301i.html 2008-01-05 Web 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, estimated that the avoidance manoeuvre lasted for two seconds. 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. The manoeuvre threw one boy across four rows of seats. Most of the injuries to occupants consisted of bruising. The maneuvers broke the leg of a 54-year-old woman."Shigeyoshi Kimura, Associated Press Writer (January 31, 2001). "At least 35 airline passengers injured in near miss"."Close Call For JAL Jets ." CBS News. January 31, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009. In addition, a drink cart spilled, scalding some passengers. No passengers on the DC-10 sustained injuries."Signals blamed for near collision." BBC. Thursday February 1, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009. Flight 907, with the 747's cabin bearing minor damage and injuries, returned to Haneda, and made an emergency landing at 16:44. Flight 958 continued to Narita Airport, landing normally at 16:32. Aftermath thumb|JAL907 injury chart By 18:00 on 1 February, eight Flight 907 passengers remained hospitalized, while 22 injured passengers had been released. Two passengers remained hospitalized at Kamata General Hospital, while two other passengers remained hospitalized at Ichikawa No. 2 Hospital. In addition, the following hospitals each had one passenger remaining: Takano Hospital, Kitasato University, Horinaka Hospital, and Tokyo Rosai Hospital.2001-02-01 JL907便事故について Regarding the JL907 flight accident http://www.jal.co.jp/131_907.html dead https://web.archive.org/web/20010202021100/http://www.jal.co.jp/131_907.html 2001-02-02 December 25, 2008 Japan Airlines ja 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."Japan Airlines apologises to near-miss victims." Airline Industry Information. February 9, 2001. Retrieved on December 11, 2009. In its report on the accident, published in July 2002, the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission called on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to make it clear that TCAS advisories should always take precedence over ATC instructions.http://www.icao.int/ICDB/HTML/English/Representative%20Bodies/Air%20Navigation%20Commission/Working%20Papers%20by%20Year/2002/AN.2002.WP.7760.EN/AN.2002.WP.7760.REP.EN.HTM report outline 2007-01-22 International Civil Aviation Organization https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083939/http://www.icao.int/ICDB/HTML/English/Representative%20Bodies/Air%20Navigation%20Commission/Working%20Papers%20by%20Year/2002/AN.2002.WP.7760.EN/AN.2002.WP.7760.REP.EN.HTM September 29, 2007 dead A similar recommendation was made three months later by Germany's accident investigation body (the BFU) in light of the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision.http://www.bfu-web.de/EN/Publications/Investigation%20Report/2002/Report_02_AX001-1-2_Ueberlingen_Report.pdf?__blob=publicationFile Investigation Report AX001-1-2 2 May 2004 111 17 January 2007 PDF German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation https://web.archive.org/web/20070123052035/http://www.bfu-web.de/cln_003/nn_53140/EN/Publications/Investigation_20Report/2002/Report__02__AX001-1-2___C3_9Cberlingen__Report%2CtemplateId%3Draw%2Cproperty%3DpublicationFile.pdf/Report_02_AX001-1-2_%C3%9Cberlingen_Report.pdf 23 January 2007 live ICAO accepted these recommendations and amended its regulations in November 2003.Flight Safety Digest, March 2004 April 2021"Deadly Crossroads," Mayday April 2021 Criminal investigation and trial The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport investigated the incident. In May 2003, Tokyo police filed an investigative report concerning Hideki Hachitani (ATC trainee), Yasuko Momii (ATC Supervisor), and Makoto Watanabe (pilot of flight 907), suspecting them of professional negligence. In March 2004, prosecutors indicted Hachitani and Momii for professional negligence."Not guilty verdict revoked, 2 air controllers given suspended sentences" Associated Press. April 11, 2008. Retrieved on December 11, 2009. Hachitani, then 30 years old, and Momii, then 35 years old, pleaded not guilty to the charges at Tokyo District Court in 2004.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1915/is_200409/ai_n6568357 https://web.archive.org/web/20090220173530/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1915/is_200409/ai_n6568357 usurped 20 February 2009 2 air controllers in 2001 JAL near-miss accident plead not guilty Japan Transportation Scan September 9, 2004 December 11, 2009 During the same year, the lawyer for Hachitani and Momii said that the pilots of the aircraft bore the responsibility for the near miss.http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13309045_ITM 2 air-traffic controllers blame JAL pilots for near-miss Asia Africa Intelligence Wire September 10, 2004 December 11, 2009 https://archive.today/20120722071254/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-13309045_ITM 22 July 2012 By 16 November 2005, 12 trials had been held since the initial hearing on 9 September 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."REPORT OF THE JAPAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' ASSOCIATIONS (JFATCA) To The 22nd IFATCA Asia Pacific Regional Meeting, Fukuoka, Japan (16-18 November 2005)January 2017 InternetArchiveBot yes." Air Traffic Control Association Japan. Retrieved July 17, 2008. In 2006, prosecutors asked for Hachitani, then 31, to be sentenced to ten years in prison and for Momii, then 37, to be sentenced to 15 years in prison.http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5171945/LEAD-Air-traffic-controllers-face.html Air traffic controllers face prison terms over 2001 near miss Japan Transportation Scan https://archive.today/20120710055616/http://business.highbeam.com/435559/article-1G1-141490266/lead-air-traffic-controllers-face-prison-terms-over 10 July 2012 On 20 March 2006, the court ruled that Hachitani and Momii were not guilty of the charge."Court finds air traffic controllers not guilty over 2001 near miss https://web.archive.org/web/20110716004826/http://www.japantoday.com/ 16 July 2011 ." Japan Today. 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.http://www.nzalpa.org.nz/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TeG6X0kRsWY%3D&tabid=128&mid=539 'N' FORMATION https://web.archive.org/web/20081014025525/http://www.nzalpa.org.nz/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TeG6X0kRsWY%3D&tabid=128&mid=539 October 14, 2008 Official Magazine of the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association 7 March 2006 December 11, 2009 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 to compensate for the near miss (equivalent to ¥JP 82.4 2006 1 million in JP).http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060401a9.html State to pay for '01 JAL near miss https://web.archive.org/web/20090223223924/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060401a9.html February 23, 2009 The Japan Times April 1, 2006 December 11, 2009 On 11 April 2008, on appeal, a higher court overturned the decision and found Hachitani and Momii guilty. The presiding judge, Masaharu Suda sentenced Hachitani, then 33, to 12 months imprisonment, and Momii, then 39, to 18 months imprisonment, with both sentences suspended for 3 years.2 air traffic controllers appeal guilty verdict https://www.thefreelibrary.com/2+air+traffic+controllers+appeal+guilty+verdict.-a0178277544 21 April 2023 Japan Transportation Scan 15 April 2008 Kyodo, Japan The Free Library The lawyers representing the controllers appealed, but the convictions were upheld on 26 October 2010, by the Supreme Court.http://www.courts.go.jp/hanrei/pdf/20101029111711.pdf Archived copy 2014-07-09 https://web.archive.org/web/20130206150318/http://www.courts.go.jp/hanrei/pdf/20101029111711.pdf 2013-02-06 dead https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/12/09/national/air-traffic-controllers-guilty-verdicts-final/ Air traffic controllers' guilty verdicts final. The Japan Times December 9, 2010 In popular culture The events of the incident are documented in the final season 3 episode of the Discovery Channel documentary Aircrash Confidential.Barrett Mathew Griffiths Alan McNab David etal Prince Stephen Gilbert Roy Aircrash Confidential 2011 MMXI World Media Rights Limited; WMR Productions; IMG Entertainment Discovery Channel Flying Blind https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2141591/ TV Documentary The episode was first aired on 20 August 2018. See also Japan Aviation 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision, mid-air collision in 2002 also attributed to conflicting ATC and TCAS messages 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision Notes References 2 External links Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission Aircraft Accident Investigation Report (Archive) ja Aircraft Accident Investigation Report (Archive) Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport "日本航空907便事故に係る書類送検に関する航空局長コメント." May 7, 2003 (15th year of Heisei). (Archive) "日本航空907便事故に係る民事調停成立に関する 航空局長コメントについて." March 31, 2006 (18th year of Heisei) (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) (Archive) The German Midair – Lessons to be Learned https://web.archive.org/web/20120412134453/http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/Safety_Issues/RiskManagement/skyguided-3.html 12 April 2012 Close Call For JAL Jets CBS News Japan Jet in Mid-Air Near-Miss ABC News A REVIEW OF JAL907/JAL958 NEAR MID-AIR COLLISION. https://web.archive.org/web/20090220175600/http://ntlsearch.bts.gov/tris/record/tris/00950627.html 20 February 2009 907便、回避後降下で被害拡大 Mainichi Shimbun Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by air traffic controller error Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2001 Category:2001 disasters in Japan Category:Japan Airlines accidents and incidents Category:January 2001 in Japan