Airline failed to give proper evacuation guidance in Japan bomb scare
Crew on a domestic flight operated by budget carrier Jetstar Japan Co., which made an emergency landing following a bomb threat in 2023, failed to instruct passengers on how to use the evacuation slide safely, according to a report on the incident released Thursday.
The report from the Japan Transport Safety Board said the company did not tell passengers how to correctly position themselves on the slide during evacuation. It also found passengers were not instructed how to get off the slide, nor were they asked to assist fellow passengers after reaching the ground.
The evacuation occurred at Chubu Centrair Airport in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. Among the 142 passengers and crew who used the slide, 10 people fell, including a man in his 60s who jumped and suffered a broken hip.
Four others suffered minor injuries after the Airbus A320, which departed Narita airport near Tokyo bound for Fukuoka in southwest Japan, was targeted with a bomb threat, according to the board under the transport ministry.
A call was made to Narita airport in the early morning of Jan. 7, 2023, claiming that a bomb had been placed on the aircraft.
Related coverage:
Jetstar plane makes emergency landing in Japan after bomb threat
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
3 days ago
- The Mainichi
Half of Japan municipalities say evacuation shelters fall short: survey
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nearly half of municipalities across Japan say evacuation shelters they are preparing do not meet government guidelines on the required number of toilets or minimum living space per person, a recent Kyodo News survey showed, citing budget and capacity constraints. The survey findings highlight the urgent need for the central and local governments in quake-prone Japan to make further efforts in this area, as inadequate shelter conditions could even prove fatal. In December, the Japanese government revised its evacuation shelter guidelines to align with the internationally recognized Sphere standard for humanitarian response. The government recommends at least 3.5 square meters of living space per person and one toilet for every 50 evacuees in the initial stage of a disaster. The questionnaire, conducted in June and July and answered by 96 percent of the heads of 1,741 cities, wards, towns and villages involved in shelter operations, found that 49 percent fell short on both standards. Regarding insufficient toilets, 8 percent said they plan to meet the standard within a certain timeframe, while only 2 percent said the same for living space. Those reporting no set timeline to meet the standards or finding it difficult to do so in the future totaled 40 percent for toilets and 47 percent for living space. The most commonly cited barriers to increasing toilets, with multiple responses allowed, were "difficulties in securing budgets" and "challenges in finding space to store or use in normal times," both at 58 percent, followed by "lack of staff and management know-how" at 13 percent. For space-related issues, 50 percent said, despite securing enough evacuation shelters, each was not large enough to provide the minimum required space per person, while 32 percent said they did not have enough shelters for the projected number of evacuees.
Kyodo News
06-08-2025
- Kyodo News
IN PHOTOS: 80 years on, Hiroshima remembers atomic bombing
HIROSHIMA - Here is a collection of photos taken by Kyodo News photographers as Hiroshima marks 80 years since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the western Japan city during World War II.
Kyodo News
05-08-2025
- Kyodo News
FOCUS: U.S. restoring Pacific island wartime airfield for deterrence
TINIAN - The United States is restoring a World War II-era airfield on Tinian, a tiny, strategically important Pacific island in its territory in the Northern Mariana Islands used as a launching point for U.S. nuclear strikes on Japan 80 years ago, as it ramps up deterrence against China. Once completed, North Field airfield will give the U.S. military's expeditionary forces more flexibility to maneuver across the Pacific amid concerns over growing Chinese influence in the region, according to a ranking U.S. Navy official. "We can move forces there, train there, practice and work with allies," U.S. Rear Adm. Gregory Huffman, then Commander of the Joint Task Force -- Micronesia, said of the project's impact in a Kyodo News interview in April. "That builds up that readiness, that operational efficiency, and increases the lethality," he said. "All of that adds to a deterrent effect by demonstrating that we have the forces ready to counter any kind of activity that or nefarious," he added. Located south of the Northern Marianas' most populated island of Saipan, Tinian is around 101 square kilometers in size and lies approximately 2,400 kilometers south of Japan. The U.S. military is currently leasing two-thirds of the island. The island was occupied by Japan before WWII but was won by the United States in a fierce battle in 1944, becoming an important Allied base during the latter stages of the war. In 1945, U.S. B-29 aircraft took off from North Field's runways to conduct an air raid on Tokyo. The atomic bombers that attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, were also launched from North Field. Following the bombings of the two cities, Japan surrendered to Allied forces on Aug. 15, marking the end of the war. Officials said the approximately $500 million North Field rehabilitation project commenced in 2024, with two of the four runways targeted for completion by 2027. U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Corey Bower, whose unit is involved in the reconstruction project, told Kyodo News that clearing the runways of overgrown vegetation and unexploded ordnance is "progressing very well", and surface construction could start before the end of the year. Huffman said North Field will not become a permanent U.S. base but could be used for training with allies such as Japan. For U.S. Pacific Air Forces, it could be an "alternate location" to the airbase on Guam in the event of a conflict. Aside from North Field, the U.S. military is close to completing an almost $300 million airfield, named Divert, on the north side of Tinian's airport, with a runway to be shared by commercial aircraft. It also rebuilt a Japanese wartime runway on Palau's Peleliu island. The U.S. military said refurbishing airfields rather than building new facilities is more cost effective and reduces disruption to local communities. Arnold Palacios, the late governor of the Northern Marianas, expressed mixed feelings toward the U.S. military build-up when he spoke to Kyodo News in April before his sudden death on July 23. He said that while nobody wants war, there is a need to be prepared given the tensions between the United States and China. He also said he could see a scenario in which the United States flies bombers carrying nuclear weapons from these airfields. Local residents understand the risks associated with their island hosting military facilities. Tinian is so small that there is no way for locals to escape in an attack as part of a wider U.S.-China armed conflict, said a resident who requested anonymity. "We hope they don't use (restored airfields) to drop bombs, to hurt and to kill people. That, we don't want to be a part of," said Tinian Mayor Edwin Aldan, even as he acknowledged the security and economic windfall the U.S. presence gives the island of 2,000 people.
