Whose fault it was? Transcript between air traffic control & Japan Airlines, coast guard jet before collision released

The air traffic control did not clear a Japan Cost Guard plane to enter the runway and it was asked to wait for the permission, transcript released of communication between ATC and two aircraft involved in fatal collision on 2 January, 2024 at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport revealed. Day after the mishap, Japan’s transport ministry on Wednesday released the transcript between air traffic control (ATC) and both aircrafts - Japan Airlines Flight 516 and the coast guard jet that collided, killing five dead and leaving its pilot seriously injured. The JAL passenger flight with 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board collided with the coast guard plane around 6 pm (local time) on Tuesday soon after it landed Haneda Airport. As many as 15 passengers sought medical treatment. Both the aircrafts bursts into flames after collision. Of the six on board the coast guard plane five have died and only the pilot is alive. Also Read: Tokyo Airport Collision: Did air traffic control give green signal to both JAL jet and coast guard plane? Meanwhile, all the passengers and crew of the JAL Airbus350 evacuated the aircraft within 18 minutes after the mishap. As per the transcript made public on Wednesday evening, at 5:43 pm (local time) on Tuesday, barely four minutes before the collision, ATC had instructed the JAL flight to continue its approach to the runway. Also, the passenger plane was informed that there would be a departing plane at the time. At 5:45 pm, ATC cleared the JAL plane to land on the runway. Barely after 10 seconds, ATC had instructed the coast guard plane to proceed to a holding point on a taxiway to the runway. The pilot on the coast guard plane repeated the instruction. As per the released transcript, from this communication up until the collision, ATC did not permit the coast guard plane to enter the runway. However, the version provided by the Japan Coast Guard jet was completely different. It said the pilot of the coast guard plane said he entered the runway after receiving permission to do so. Earlier on Wednesday, a team of six inspectors from the Japan Transport Safety Board began its on-site investigation and retrieved voice recorders of the flight and the coast guard plane. The team is expected to interview people, including the pilots of the JAL and coast guard aircraft, to identify the actual cause of the collision. With inputs from NHK Japan