Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Investigators Say ANA Jet May Have Departed Left of Centerline Before Hitting Lights at Haneda

Investigators point to darkened centerline lights during construction as a likely factor in a leftward misalignment.

Overview

  • Officials are examining evidence that Flight 639 accelerated about 30 meters left of Runway D’s centerline, damaging lights along roughly 800 meters.
  • Sixteen white runway edge lights and two blue taxiway edge lights were found broken on the left side, and the aircraft later landed with flat nose tires.
  • All 174 passengers and crew were uninjured after the Boeing 737-800 returned to Haneda about an hour after takeoff and halted on a taxiway.
  • Centerline lights near the takeoff point had been switched off for paving work, a status the transport ministry had communicated to airlines.
  • The ministry has opened a probe and reviewed information-sharing protocols following a similar April incident on the same runway involving Japan Airlines.