Oriënt Thai, a Thai plane takes a low-flying detour over the center of Tokyo.
A chartered jumbo jet flew dangerously low over downtown Tokyo last month, missing Tokyo Tower by only 200 meters.
The five-minute detour was at an altitude of 400 to 600 meters.The Orient Thai Airlines plane from Bangkok was heading to Haneda airport after flying in over Tokyo Bay in the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 19.
But the Boeing 747 veered off course and made an unauthorized pass over the Kinshicho district in Sumida Ward, Tokyo Station in Chiyoda Ward-and the 333-meter Tokyo Tower in Minato Ward.
The empty charter jet was to pick up passengers later in the day at Haneda airport and fly to Phuket in Thailand, the sources said.
The plane approached with clear visibility over Tokyo Bay at an altitude of 1,200 meters. At 12:14 a.m., the pilot received clearance for a visual landing from the Haneda air traffic controller.
At 12:15, the pilot got final clearance to land, but the jet did not turn toward Haneda.
Instead, the pilot flew north, reaching air space above the mouth of Arakawa River at 12:17 a.m. The plane then turned left, flying over tall buildings in the downtown Nihonbashi and Shinagawa districts before landing at Haneda airport at 12:24 a.m.
The captain made no radio contact with the control tower during the time the flight was off course, the sources said.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officials said nothing illegal had taken place. But the ministry is investigating because, says a ministry official,
"It is very unusual for a jet plane to fly over downtown Tokyo at a low altitude. We will hear details from those concerned to avoid a recurrence,'' the official added.
In the postwar boom of the 1950s, Japan was looking for a monument to symbolize its ascendancy as a global economic powerhouse - it was also looking to build a television and radio relay tower. Looking to the occident for inspiration, the Tokyo Government decided to erect its own Eiffel Tower. Constructed by Takenaka Corporation, Japan' oldest architecture, engineering and construction firm, and completed in 1958 at a cost of JY2.8 billion, this grand edifice, at a height of three hundred and 333m, entered the record books as the world's highest self-supporting iron structure.Taller than the Eiffel Tower by just thirteen meters, Tokyo Tower, while maintaining a commanding presence on the Tokyo skyline, has never gained status as a monument of international repute. However, due to its advanced steel construction, it is half the weight (4,000 tons versus 7,000) of its French sibling.
