Japan’s Transport Ministry warns JAL over recent safety incidents

Japan’s Transport Ministry on Monday called on Japan Airlines to improve its safety record, saying a series of recent incidents involving the airline’s aircraft could have led to serious accidents.

The warning came days after one of the airline’s A350 aircraft collided with the wing of another JAL plane on the tarmac at Tokyo’s Haneda airport. No one was injured among the 328 passengers on the Sapporo-bound flight, but the flight was eventually canceled.

Mitsuko Tottori, CEO of Japan Airlines Co., speaks to reporters in Tokyo on May 27, 2024. (Kyodo)

In an incident earlier this month, another JAL plane waiting to take off at Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan crossed the holding line without permission, causing a J-Air Corp. plane to abort its takeoff.

The warning represents a major challenge for CEO Mitsuko Tottori, who took over in April. The company’s first female top executive has vowed to put customer safety first following a collision between a JAL plane and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda airport in January.

All 379 people on board the burning JAL A350 plane were safely evacuated on January 2. The media described their rescue and survival as “a miracle.” However, five coast guardsmen on the other plane lost their lives.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism asked the company to report to the ministry by June 11 on the measures it is taking to prevent similar incidents in the future.

After meeting with an official in charge of overseeing the aviation industry, Tottori told reporters at the ministry that the company would step up efforts to improve safety.

“There may be more causes for the accidents than we have realized,” Tottori said. “We will do our utmost to investigate the causes and develop measures to prevent them.”

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