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Thursday, 1 February, 2001, 14:05 GMT
Signals blamed for near collision
![]() The incident occurred over Yaizu
Crowded skies and confusing signals from traffic controllers may have contributed to a near collision between two Japanese planes, officials said Thursday.
One of the planes - a Japan Airlines jumbo jet- had to swerve abruptly to avoid colliding with a DC10 from the same airline, leaving 42 people injured, three of them seriously.
This new estimate of the planes' close proximity makes the incident far more serious than previously thought. According to the flight plans, they should have passed at a distance of about 600m. Trainee controller The planes were flying at an altitude of 11,000 metres (36,000 feet) when the incident occurred.
The 26-year-old controller involved was not yet certified to act independently in the airspace he was monitoring, government officials said. "We must place priority on avoiding collisions, before thinking about putting passengers and crew in danger through a sudden change of course," a Japanese pilot said. The pilots of both planes reported that their collision warning devices went off, forcing them to take emergency measures. Japan Airlines Vice-President Yasushi Yuasa said that he had never heard of a near-miss involving planes from the same airline before. Pandemonium The Japan Airlines jumbo, which had taken off from Tokyo, was half an hour into its flight bound for Naha, Okinawa, when the near-miss occurred.
Some people were not wearing seatbelts and were thrown up to the ceiling. Flight attendants had just begun serving hot drinks and some passengers were scalded as drinks shot up in the air. "I thought it was the end for us," a 57-year-old passenger said.
The three people in a serious condition included a 35-year old crew member who was unconscious, but the injuries were not life threatening. The aircraft immediately returned to Tokyo's Haneda airport. The other plane, a DC10 flying from Pusan, South Korea, landed at Narita airport shortly afterwards. None of its 237 passengers or 13 crew were injured. |
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