Japan's Ministry of Transport (MoT) is expected to recommend to the US Federal Aviation Administration that improvements be made to the programming of Boeing's MD-11 autopilot system, according to Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun daily newspaper.
This follows the investigation of a Japan Airlines (JAL) MD-11 incident over the Shima Peninisula in Mie Prefecture, western Japan in June 1997. JAL flight 706 was bound for Nagoya from Hong Kong with 180 passengers and crew members. It was making its approach to Nagoya Airport when the accident occurred.
A senior MoT official declines to confirm or deny the Yomiuri report, but it is understood that the committee has concluded there were defects in the autopilot programme of the aircraft which caused it to descend too fast, forcing the pilot to take over manual control. Initially, the MD-11 was thought to have experienced severe turbulence while it was descending on autopilot at more than 365kt (675km/h). Twelve people were injured in the incident. One crew member, who has been in a coma since the accident, died in February. The MoT official says the panel's conclusions will be made public "shortly".
• Japan's Nagoya District Public Prosecutors Office has decided not to indict a pilot, a co-pilot and four current and former officials of China Airlines in connection with an Airbus A300-600R accident in April 1994 at Nagoya.
The pilot and co-pilot died in the crash of the A300-600R and the Prosecutors Office determined that further investigation was impossible. The investigation concluded that the overall training and examination of pilots were properly conducted at CAL and that four former and incumbent airline officials could not be prosecuted for "lack of sufficient evidence".
The officials include Chang Kuang-feng, then vice-president of the airline with responsibility for safety.
Source: Flight International
