Japan revises aviation law after 2024 Haneda collision
Parliament passed a bill on Friday to revise the civil aviation law to make communication skills training mandatory for all pilots operating at busy airports, including private and Japan Coast Guard aircraft.
The revision, which will enter into force within three years, was drafted in response to a fatal accident in January last year in which Japan Airlines and coast guard aircraft collided and caught fire on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
The bill passed the House of Councilors, the upper chamber of the Diet, at a plenary meeting Friday after clearing the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, earlier in May.
The training in question, called crew resource management, is conducted to improve skills for communication between the captain and the copilot and between the cockpit crew and air traffic controllers to prevent human errors such as runway incursions.
The coast guard conducts similar drills independently, but the revised law will make the practice mandatory.
The law also stipulates the establishment of a runway safety team at each of the country's eight major airports, including Haneda, in which air traffic controllers and airline officials discuss measures against incursions.
In an interim report on the accident released late last year, the Japan Transport Safety Board said that both the captain and the copilot of the coast guard aircraft thought that they had received permission to enter the runway.
Suspecting a problem with mutual confirmation procedures, the coast guard has revised its manual to ensure that pilots fully repeat instructions from controllers to confirm them between themselves.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kyodo News
2 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Chinese ships seen near Senkakus for record-tying 215th straight day
KYODO NEWS - 14 minutes ago - 14:14 | All, Japan Chinese coast guard ships were spotted near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea for the 215th consecutive day, the Japan Coast Guard said Saturday, matching the longest streak since Japan put the islets under state control in 2012. The group of uninhabited islets, which China claims and calls Diaoyu, has long been a source of friction between the Asian neighbors. Four Chinese coast guard ships equipped with autocannons were confirmed to have sailed in the contiguous zone just outside Japan's territorial waters on Saturday, the Japan Coast Guard said. The Japan Coast Guard warned the ships not to approach Japanese territorial waters. The previous 215-day streak of Chinese ships sailing near the Senkakus ended on July 23, 2024, likely due to the approach of a typhoon. Related coverage: Japan destroyer sails Taiwan Strait after China jet encounter Japan sees 1st simultaneous operations by China carriers in Pacific Chinese vessel may have conducted marine survey near Senkakus
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Upper House begins discussions on gasoline tax bill
The Upper House began discussions on an opposition-sponsored gasoline tax cut bill on Saturday, a day before the ordinary session of parliament ends Sunday. The opposition camp is demanding that the bill be put to a vote in the Upper House Committee on Financial Affairs and then in the full chamber by the end of Saturday, with an eye on the upcoming Upper House election, expected to take place on July 20. However, Junichi Ishii, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's parliamentary affairs chief in the Upper House, told Yoshitaka Saito, his counterpart from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, at a meeting Saturday that the bill does not deserve a vote. The bill to abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate, effective July 1, was jointly submitted by the CDP and six other opposition parties earlier this month. On Friday, it passed the Lower House, where the LDP-Komeito coalition lacks a majority. There is little chance that the bill will pass the Upper House, where the ruling coalition holds a majority.
Nikkei Asia
4 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
US wants Asian allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense, Pentagon says
The USS George Washington is seen during a trilateral exercise between the U.S., Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea in November 2024. © Reuters KEN MORIYASU and RINTARO TOBITA WASHINGTON -- America's allies in Asia should follow Europe and spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense, a Pentagon spokesperson said Friday. This marks the first time in President Donald Trump's second term that the administration has laid out a regionwide target for the Asia-Pacific region.
