Tokyo Area Control Center [1] (東京航空交通管制部, Tōkyō Kōkūkōtsūkanseibu, "Tokyo Air Traffic Control Center") is an air traffic control center located in the Namiki area of Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan in the Greater Tokyo Area. The center is north of the special wards of Tokyo.
As of 2001 the center controlled airspace in the Kantō, Jōetsu, Tōhoku, Chūbu, and Hokuriku regions and a portion of the Kansai region. [2]
On Wednesday, January 31, 2001, two Japan Airlines aircraft narrowly avoided a mid-air collision. The two airliners conflicted. Japan Airlines Flight 958, using a Douglas DC-10, descended according to traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) instructions. A center employee told Japan Airlines Flight 907, using a Boeing 747-400, to descend while its TCAS told the pilots to climb. [2]
In aviation and aviation meteorology, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude at standard air pressure, expressed in hundreds of feet. The air pressure is computed assuming an International Standard Atmosphere pressure of 1013.25 hPa (29.92 inHg) at sea level, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's actual altitude, either above sea level or above ground level.
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 was a scheduled flight of Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) from Sacramento to San Diego with a Stopover at Los Angeles. On September 25, 1978, the Boeing 727-214 serving the flight, registration of N533PS, collided with a private Cessna 172 light aircraft, registration N7711G, over San Diego, California. It was Pacific Southwest Airlines' first fatal accident, and it remains the deadliest air disaster in California history. At the time, it was the deadliest air crash to occur in the United States, and remained so until American Airlines Flight 191 crashed in May 1979.
Philippine Airlines Flight 434, sometimes referred to as PAL434 or PR434, was a flight on December 11, 1994, from Cebu to Tokyo on a Boeing 747-283B that was seriously damaged by a bomb, killing one passenger and damaging vital control systems, although the plane was in a repairable state. The bombing was a test run of the unsuccessful Bojinka terrorist attacks. The Boeing 747 was flying the second leg of a route from Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Pasay in the Philippines, to Narita International Airport, in Tokyo, Japan, with a stop at Mactan–Cebu International Airport, Cebu, in the Philippines. After the bomb detonated, 58-year-old veteran pilot Captain Eduardo "Ed" Reyes was able to land the aircraft, saving it and the remaining passengers and crew.
Hamamatsuchō Station is a major interchange railway station in Hamamatsuchō, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company and also by Tokyo Monorail.
Reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) is the reduction, from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet, of the standard vertical separation required between aircraft flying between flight level 290 (29,000 ft) and flight level 410 (41,000 ft). Expressed in the International System of Units (SI), it is the reduction, from 600 m to 300 m, of required vertical separation of aircraft between altitudes 8,850 and 12,500 m. This reduction in vertical separation minimum therefore increases the number of aircraft that can fly in a particular volume of controlled airspace.
On 1 July 2002, BALBashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, and DHL International Aviation ME Flight 611, a Boeing 757 cargo jet, collided in mid-air over Überlingen, a southern German town on Lake Constance, near the Swiss border. All of the passengers and crew aboard both planes were killed, resulting in a total death toll of 71.
A traffic alert and collision avoidance system, is an aircraft collision avoidance system designed to reduce the incidence of mid-air collision (MAC) between aircraft. It monitors the airspace around an aircraft for other aircraft equipped with a corresponding active transponder, independent of air traffic control, and warns pilots of the presence of other transponder-equipped aircraft which may present a threat of MAC. It is a type of airborne collision avoidance system mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization to be fitted to all aircraft with a maximum take-off mass (MTOM) of over 5,700 kg (12,600 lb) or authorized to carry more than 19 passengers. CFR 14, Ch I, part 135 requires that TCAS I be installed for aircraft with 10-30 passengers and TCAS II for aircraft with more than 30 passengers. ACAS/TCAS is based on secondary surveillance radar (SSR) transponder signals, but operates independently of ground-based equipment to provide advice to the pilot on potentially conflicting aircraft.
Aeroméxico Flight 498 was a scheduled commercial flight from Mexico City, Mexico, to Los Angeles, California, United States, with several intermediate stops. On Sunday, August 31, 1986, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight was clipped in the tail section by N4891F, a Piper PA-28-181 Cherokee owned by the Kramer family, and crashed into the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, killing all 64 on the DC-9, all three on the Piper and an additional 15 people on the ground. Eight on the ground also sustained minor injuries. Blame was assessed equally on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the pilot of the Cherokee. No fault was found with the DC-9 or the actions of its crew.
Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 was a regularly scheduled Allegheny Airlines flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to St. Louis, Missouri, with stops in Baltimore, Maryland, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. On September 9, 1969, the aircraft serving the flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, collided in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 light aircraft near Fairland, Indiana. The DC-9 was carrying 78 passengers and 4 crew members, and the Piper was leased to a student pilot on a solo cross-country flight. All 83 occupants of both aircraft were killed in the accident and both aircraft were destroyed.
The North Atlantic Tracks, officially titled the North Atlantic Organised Track System (NAT-OTS), are a structured set of transatlantic flight routes that stretch from eastern North America to western Europe across the Atlantic Ocean, within the North Atlantic airspace region. They ensure that aircraft are separated over the ocean, where there is little radar coverage. These heavily travelled routes are used by aircraft flying between North America and Europe, operating between the altitudes of 29,000 and 41,000 ft inclusive. Entrance and movement along these tracks is controlled by special oceanic control centres to maintain separation between aircraft. The primary purpose of these routes is to allow air traffic control to effectively separate the aircraft. Because of the volume of NAT traffic, allowing aircraft to choose their own co-ordinates would make the ATC task far more complex. They are aligned in such a way as to minimize any head winds and maximize tail winds impact on the aircraft. This results in much more efficiency by reducing fuel burn and flight time. To make such efficiencies possible, the routes are created twice daily to take account of the shifting of the winds aloft and the principal traffic flow, eastward in North America evening and westward twelve hours later.
On 29 September 2006, Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907, a Boeing 737-800 on a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Manaus, Brazil, to Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, collided mid-air with an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet flying on an opposite heading over the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The winglet of the Legacy sliced off about half of the 737's left wing, causing the 737 to break up and crash into an area of dense jungle, killing all 154 passengers and crew. Despite sustaining serious damage to its left wing and tail, the Legacy landed with its seven occupants uninjured.
In aviation, a mid-air collision is an accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight. Owing to the relatively high velocities involved and the likelihood of subsequent impact with the ground or sea, very severe damage or the total destruction of at least one of the aircraft usually results.
In air traffic control, separation is the name for the concept of keeping an aircraft outside a minimum distance from another aircraft to reduce the risk of those aircraft colliding, as well as prevent accidents due to secondary factors, such as wake turbulence. Separation can also apply to terrain, obstacles, and controlled airspace, wherein an aircraft must stay at a minimum distance from a block of airspace; as an example, all aircraft must be approved by the controller who "owns" the airspace before the aircraft is approved to enter that sector.
The navigation paradox states that increased navigational precision may result in increased collision risk. In the case of ships and aircraft, the advent of Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation has enabled craft to follow navigational paths with such greater precision, that, without better distribution of routes, coordination between neighboring craft and collision avoidance procedures, the likelihood of two craft occupying the same space on the shortest distance line between two navigational points has increased.
The Japan Airlines Safety Promotion Center is a museum and educational center operated by Japan Airlines to promote airline safety. It is located on the grounds of Tokyo International Airport in Ota, Tokyo, Japan. The center estimates that its facility is within two minutes walking distance from the Tokyo Monorail Shin Seibijō Station.
On 31 January 2001, Japan Airlines Flight 907, a Boeing 747-400 en route from Haneda Airport, Japan, to Naha Airport, Okinawa, narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with Japan Airlines Flight 958, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40 en route from Gimhae International Airport, South Korea, to Narita International Airport, Japan. The event became known in Japan as the Japan Airlines near miss incident above Suruga Bay. Had the accident occurred, it could have potentially been the worst mid-air collision and the worst air disaster of all time.
Haneda Airport, also known as Tokyo International Airport, and sometimes referred to as Tokyo-Haneda International Airport, is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary base of Japan's two largest airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, as well as RegionalPlus Wings Corp., Skymark Airlines, and StarFlyer. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) south of Tokyo Station. The facility covers 1,522 hectares of land.
Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZID), is one of 22 established FAA Area Control Centers, and is physically located at 1850 South Sigsbee Street, Indianapolis, Indiana,.
Proteus Airlines Flight 706 was a scheduled commuter flight from Lyon, France to Lorient, France. On July 30, 1998, the Beechcraft 1900D operating the flight collided in mid-air with a Cessna 177 over Quiberon Bay, Brittany. This accident was known as Quiberon Bay mid-air collision. Both aircraft crashed in the sea, killing fifteen people.
On 13 September 1997, a German Air Force Tupolev Tu-154M observation aircraft and a United States Air Force C-141B Starlifter transport aircraft were destroyed in a mid-air collision while cruising at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) off the coast of Namibia. All 33 people onboard both aircraft were killed. At the time of the collision, the Tupolev was flying on a southerly route from Niamey, Niger, to Cape Town, South Africa, while the C-141 was heading northwest from Windhoek, Namibia, to Ascension Island.