ANA Flight Returns to Haneda after Hitting Runway Lights

Tokyo, Oct. 14 (Jiji Press)–An All Nippon Airways flight returned to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport Monday evening, about an hour after takeoff, as it was discovered that the aircraft had hit runway lights. None of the 174 passengers and crew members on the flight to Iwakuni Kintaikyo Airport in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, were injured. The Boeing 737-800 plane, an ANA 639 flight operated by group firm ANA Wings Co., took off from Haneda at around 9 p.m. After the crew noticed the collision, the plane headed back to the airport, arriving at around 10 p.m. After landing at Haneda, the aircraft stopped on a taxiway and passengers were transported to a terminal by bus. The plane suffered flat front tires in the incident. The transport ministry found that multiple ground lights on the left side of Haneda’s runway D were damaged. The runway’s centerline lights had been turned off for construction work. As both the centerline lights and broken lights were white, the plane may have mistaken the runway’s location as being farther to the left than it actually was, according to the ministry. A Japan Airlines plane aborted its takeoff from the same runway in April after it collided with a taxiway light. The center lights had been turned off during the incident as well, apparently leading to a similar misjudgment of the runway location. The ministry has since reviewed information sharing protocols with airlines. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]