B738 / Vehicle, Kansai, Japan, 2023

B738 / Vehicle, Kansai, Japan, 2023

Summary

On 20 July 2023, a Boeing 737-800 was given a night landing clearance at Kansai with the controller unaware a runway inspection in the landing direction was in progress. When the vehicle driver heard this clearance, the driver identified the approaching aircraft position and estimated the inspection could be completed without impeding the inbound aircraft. However, on checking, the driver was instructed to exit the runway at once and did so. Minimum aircraft/vehicle separation was 3,480 metres. The immediate cause of the potential conflict was controller error when various ground movement activities were occurring towards the end of an otherwise quiet night shift.

Description

On 20 July 2023, a Boeing 737-800 (B-5156) operated by China Postal Airlines on a scheduled international cargo flight from Shanghai Pudong to Kansai as CF205 was cleared to land in night visual conditions (VMC) despite that, unknown to the tower controller issuing the clearance, a routine inspection of the landing runway was still in progress. The vehicle concerned was travelling in the landing direction whilst working the ground frequency rather than the tower frequency in accordance with local airport procedures. The conflict was resolved only when the vehicle driver persisted in challenging the ground controller who then recognised he had confused two different vehicles.

Investigation 

A Serious Incident investigation was carried out by the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB). Recorded ATC communications including phone calls were available, as was data from the ‘drive recorder’ installed in the runway inspection vehicle. Historic aircraft position data was available from the airport multilateration (MLAT system), but this did not cover airside vehicles, even those permitted to operate on an active runway when so cleared.

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