The Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau has issued a warning to Japan Airlines (JAL) over safety concerns after a series of collisions and close calls involving planes in its fleet.
The bureau, part of the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, told the airline that it must “consider further efforts to ensure the safety of air transport” and submit a report on preventative measures.
According to local press reports, concerns from the regulator have also led to an audit of the airline, with officials from the ministry entering a JAL office last week to begin assessing its safety procedures and processes ahead of conducting hearings.
A statement from the airline in response to the beginning of investigations said that it was hoping to “rebuild trust” by working with the ministry.
It said: “The purpose of the audit is to investigate a series of unforeseen circumstances. We take this series of incidents, and the fact that we are being audited, very seriously.”
Five incidents were cited by the ministry as a cause for concern, including a JAL plane entering the wrong taxiway and moving without air traffic control clearance at San Diego Airport, US in February.
Recent incidents included a JAL pilot being taken off a flight from Dallas after “excessive drinking” in April, leading to the flight's cancellation, and the collision of the wing tips of two JAL planes in May, which also led to a cancellation.
The audit came after the high-profile collision involving a JAL plane coming into land at Haneda Airport which hit a small coastguard plane on the runway in January, killing five of the six people on the smaller aircraft and causing the total loss of JAL’s A350.
However, initial investigations into the incident found that the coastguard plane appeared to have moved on the runway, against air traffic control instructions, after the JAL plane was cleared to land.
The crew of the Japanese airline was praised for facilitating the evacuation of all 379 people on the A350 before it was engulfed in flames, though two pets did die in the cargo hold.
