Mon, May 09, 2005
Resigns Amid Close Government Scrutiny
Plagued by recent reports of safety problems in-flight and on
the ground, Japan Airlines CEO Isao Kaneko, 65, abruptly resigned
Monday after 45 years with the company.
Kaneko did not say why he was stepping down, but his resignation
came after one of aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing
because of a sudden loss of cabin pressure on May 8th. The Japanese government took the highly unusual
step of warning JAL about safety concerns, even going so far as to
send the country's aviation chief for a personal inspection of
airline facilities in March.
Some aircraft flew with disabled emergency warning gear. Others
were found to have "inappropriate" parts included in their landing
gear assemblies. Still others took off or landed without clearance
at airports in Japan and South Korea. No one was hurt in the
incidents.
Sunday's loss of cabin pressure affected a New York to Tokyo
flight with 355 passengers on board. Again, none was hurt. The
aircraft made an emergency landing at Sapporo.
Last month, JAL issued a rare
statement on safety concerns:
Management and staff of the JAL Group have reflected deeply on a
number of safety-related incidents, followed up by a business
improvement order and administrative warnings to the airline issued
by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport, which has responsibility for all
transport in Japan and its safe operation.
We have analyzed the cause of the incidents and have formulated
countermeasures to improve safety based on our findings. While the
majority of the incidents were non-threatening, involving aircraft
and component technical failures and reflecting day-to-day wear and
tear of equipment common to all airlines, a small number involved
human error, and were serious breaches of basic safety. These we
deeply regret.
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