Japan plane collision: transcript shows crashed plane entered runway without permission; passenger jet authorised to land

Transcripts of traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines passenger plane had been given permission to land

But the coastguard aircraft had been told to taxi to a holding point near the runway, contradicting a statement from the captain of the coastguard plane

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Transcripts from flight recorders revealed that a Japan Airlines passenger jet had permission to land before colliding with a coastguard aircraft on the runway at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. Photo: TNS

Published: 7:56pm, 3 Jan 2024Updated: 7:29am, 4 Jan 2024

Japanese authorities said on Wednesday that a passenger jet that collided with a coastguard turboprop at a Tokyo airport was given permission to land, but the smaller plane was not cleared for take-off, based on transcripts of conversations with the control tower.

All 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 had a miraculous escape after it erupted in flames following Tuesday’s crash with a De Havilland Dash-8 coastguard turboprop shortly after landing at Haneda airport.

But five died among the six coastguard crew who were due to depart on a flight responding to a major earthquake on the west coast, while the captain, who escaped the wreckage, was badly injured.

Authorities have only just begun their investigations and there remains uncertainty over the circumstances surrounding the incident, including how the two aircraft ended up on the same runway.

Officials look at the burnt wreckage of a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane on the tarmac at Tokyo International Airport at Haneda in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

But transcripts of traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines plane had been given permission to land, but that the coastguard aircraft had been told to taxi to a holding point near the runway.