What happened
On August 22, 2019, an Eastar Jet Boeing 737-800, registered HL8052, was conducting a visual approach to Hyakuri Airfield in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The flight crew was cleared to land on the Westside runway (03L), which is paved with dark asphalt. However, during the final approach, the captain misidentified the Eastside runway (03R)—a white concrete runway—as the intended landing surface.
At the time of the approach, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force inspection vehicle was traversing the Eastside runway to conduct visual inspections. As the aircraft completed its final turn and stabilized its descent, the pilot focused on flight parameters, inadvertently directing the aircraft toward the occupied runway. Upon realizing that the aircraft was approaching the wrong runway and noticing the vehicle ahead, the captain initiated a go-around at approximately 200 feet above ground level. The aircraft successfully transitioned to the correct runway and landed safely later in the sequence.
The investigation
The Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) examined the flight history, cockpit procedures, and the physical characteristics of the airfield. The investigation reviewed the flight crew's briefing, the use of the flight management computer (FMC) and navigation display (ND), and the coordination between the pilot flying (PF) and the pilot monitoring (PM). Investigators also analyzed the visual differences between the two runways, noting that the white concrete of the Eastside runway is significantly more prominent than the charcoal-colored asphalt of the Westside runway.
Findings
- The primary cause was the captain's misidentification of the runway cleared for landing.
- The pilot's attention was divided between performing checklist items, reducing speed, and stabilizing the approach, which led to insufficient visual scanning of the airfield environment.
- The visual prominence of the white concrete Eastside runway likely contributed to the error, as the pilot was subconsciously attracted to the more noticeable surface.
- The pilot monitoring (PM) failed to adequately monitor the flight path and did not alert the captain to the runway discrepancy earlier in the approach.
- The flight crew's lack of prior experience performing visual approaches to this specific airfield may have contributed to the error.
Safety action
Following the incident, Eastar Jet implemented several preventive measures, including sharing the details of the incident with all flight crews and establishing a new requirement that pilots in command (PIC) must have at least 500 hours of experience as a PIC before operating at Hyakuri Airfield.