What caused a near miss between 2 jets near Tokyo – and what can China learn?

The incident, which at one point saw only 20 metres separating the planes, offers lessons for Chinese regulators and operators, analysts say

A near-miss on Tuesday involving an All Nippon Airways (ANA) plane coming dangerously close to another jet while approaching Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from Shanghai has thrown aviation safety back into focus – particularly, anti-collision technology and protocols – according to industry professionals based in China.

While the intervention of one jet’s traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) prevented contact between the two planes, analysts said there were lessons China could learn from the incident, given the other jet’s system failed to provide a similar warning.

They also added China has “stringent” measures and systems in place to make such occurrences “less likely”, since safety would make or break Beijing’s aviation ambitions as well as the future of its home-grown airliners.

Neither ANA nor JCAB immediately responded to requests for comment from the South China Morning Post.

Flight trajectory data indicated that the vertical separation between the two aircraft was merely 20 metres (66 feet) when the jets crossed paths, triggering the ANA plane’s TCAS and prompting the pilot to avert impact with a course correction. No one was injured.