Narrow escape: how ANA flight from Shanghai avoided a collision at Tokyo airport

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 767 carrying 197 passengers and crew from Shanghai narrowly avoided a potential collision with a government inspection aircraft near Tokyo's Haneda airport on Tuesday morning. The incident occurred around 6am when ANA flight NH968 was descending towards runway C when its traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) activated, warning of a possible collision.

The pilots, following the TCAS instructions, climbed to avoid the other aircraft. The inspection aircraft, operated by the Civil Aviation Bureau and known as Dr White, was performing checks on navigation and airport facilities. Neither aircraft sustained any damage, and no passengers or crew members were injured during the event.

The airline reported that the ANA plane landed "safely without issue, under normal conditions" and no injuries were reported among the 187 passengers and 10 crew members on board. The transport ministry, which does not consider incidents like this to be "serious", is investigating the occurrence. The inspection aircraft had turned after take-off and crossed the flight path of the descending ANA plane, but there was no imminent risk of collision.

The incident comes in the wake of another aviation safety collision at Haneda airport in January 2024, which resulted in the death of five coastguard plane crew members while all 379 passengers on board escaped unharmed.