羽田空港新ルート設定取り消し訴訟

Actions for the revocation of administrative dispositions over Haneda Airport’s new flight paths

【The airspace over Tokyo and Kawasaki City became the landing and takeoff paths for Haneda Airport】

On December 16, 2019, the government issued a notice allowing aircraft taking off from Haneda Airport to fly over the Kawasaki Petroleum Complex. On January 30, 2020, the landing flight paths flying over central Tokyo came into effect.

Until this time, planes taking off and landing at Haneda Airport had been using marine take-off and landing paths. However, after this notification, landing crafts are allowed to fly over the center of Tokyo and take-offs crafts are allowed to fly over Kawasaki City.

We, the plaintiffs, believe that these administrative dispositions will cause serious harm to the lives, property, and health of people living and visiting Tokyo and Kawasaki City, and filed a lawsuit against the government in the Tokyo District Court on June 12, 2020.

The plaintiffs are twenty-nine citizens who have a certificate of residence in the area under the flight path. After the lawsuit started, the case was covered in many media outlets.

NHK

Tokyo Shimbun１／Tokyo Shimbun２／Tokyo Shimbun３

Kyodo News      

The Nikkei

We plaintiffs think this a problem that the government has explained for the reason of change of flight paths only that “the demand for air travel and social conditions have changed” and has not listened to alternative methods we proposed. The government has not provided a reasonable explanation of safety to the public.

The government explains that low flying over Tokyo and Kawasaki is not a problem, giving the example of Fukuoka and Itami airports, which already have planes flying low over the city. 

But unlike Fukuoka and Itami, where residents are aware of the risks and decide to live in, central Tokyo has never been a flight rout due to flight restrictions regarding the Yokota airspace. Therefore, the noise came later to the residential areas where residents have been living for a long time.

In addition, airplanes generate a lot of falling objects from vibrations when the wheels are lowered. As a general rule, wheels are not lowered when airplanes fly over residential areas. On the other hand, airplanes using the new path will lower the wheels in the center of the city.

We think this lawsuit deals with not just a matter of one region, but a national issue that may arise in the other areas in the future. That's why we decided to open the process of discussion in the lawsuit public through the CALL4 platform, and to call for support from those interested in the issue.

【How the funds are used】

This case is an administrative lawsuit against a decision made by the government. It is not easy to win a case against the government, and it is not uncommon for these lawsuits to take five years or more.

In Japan, even if a plaintiff wins this type of administrative lawsuit against the government after a long period of time and a court declares the government's actions to be illegal, the plaintiff is not able to obtain compensation from the government.

We have been using donations from individual supporters to fund our immediate litigation costs. However, it isn’t easy to provide sufficient funds to continue the long-term trial. We will use the donation from this crowdfunding to pay for anticipated prolonged litigation costs, especially legal fees over 1million yen per year.

【The issues in this trial】

We believe there are three issues with the government’s administrative disposition (the notice issued on December 16, 2019, and the flight paths rule that went into effect on January 30, 2020).

1)  The risks of using the take-off path over Kawasaki City

On November 6, 1970, the government issued a notice titled “Flight Restrictions over the Kawasaki Petroleum Complex”.

This notice was issued by the government in response to a request from the citizens of Kawasaki　City to the Minister of Transportation. It calls for the risk of serious damage to the facilities of the complex if an aircraft crashes or falls from an aircraft flying over the area where the Kawasaki Oil Complex is located. This could result in a major accident and serious damage to the lives and property of Kawasaki citizens.

Fifty-four years have passed since the notification was issued. Compared to that time, the accident risk of airspace over the petroleum complex has not changed. In fifty-four years, there have been four failed takeoff/landing incidents in the vicinity of Haneda Airport.

But this time, the government issued a new notice without any concrete reason and abolished the flight restrictions over the Kawasaki Petroleum Complex.

We plaintiffs argue that this government's decision violates Article 80 of the Civil Aeronautics Act, which provides that, “No aircraft shall be flown over such area as is likely to endanger the safe operation of other aircraft specified by Ordinances of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism”.

2) The risks of using a landing path over central Tokyo

We plaintiffs also argue that the government has not complied with its obligation to “secure the safety of takeoffs and landings of aircraft at an aerodrome” under Article 83 of the Civil Aeronautics Act on the new landing paths at Haneda Airport for the following reasons.

・The risk of a plane crash

Generally, the three minutes after takeoff and eight minutes before landing are known as the “critical 11 minutes”. This 11-minute period is a time of increased danger and accident susceptibility due to weather conditions such as snow and gusty winds, bird collisions, and human error due to the switch to manual control.

This new landing path, flying low over the city center in the eight minutes before landing, poses a risk of a serious accident and incalculable damage.

・The risk of falling objects from the airplanes

The airplanes generate a lot of falling objects from vibrations when the wheels are lowered. At Narita Airport, landing planes are required to lower their wheels about 20 km before the airport, off the coast of Kujukuri, as a fall prevention measure. On the other hand, airplanes using the new landing path to Haneda Airport will lower the wheels in the central area of the city.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, over two years from November 2017 to October 2019, 1,180 parts fell from aircraft taking off and landing from seven major Japanese airports.

There is a possibility that parts and ice cubes could fall from an aircraft landing at Haneda Airport onto the buildings and downtown area of Tokyo.

・The noise issue due to low flying

Noise levels of up to 81 to 94 decibels have been recorded in the low-flying areas, well above the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's prior description.

Search “# No new landing path to Haneda Airport” on the internet. You will see thousands tweets to make a complaint about the noise from airplanes. 

3) The other options besides the new take-off and landing path

At the residents' briefing, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism explained that the reason for allowing the new take-off and landing path was the necessity to increase the number of international flights to accept more foreign tourists.

However, due to the covid-19 epidemic, 90 flights per hour originally planned have not been realized. At first, the government explained that the new path would be operated after gaining an understanding of the local community. Shinagawa, Shibuya and Minato wards submitted a written statement to the government requesting a review of the plan. After the new path began to operate, there were a number of noise complaints, and on June 16, 2020, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism set up a committee to discuss the review of the path.

There are some alternative ways to increasing international flights without using the new pathsuch as using Narita and Ibaraki airports and adopting air traffic control methods based on international standards, as in London. However, the MLIT's Civil Aviation Bureau has not considered these other possibilities.

We the citizens are not convinced that the government is complying with its obligations to" secure the safety of takeoffs and landings of aircraft at an aerodrome" under Article 83 of the Civil Aeronautics Act.

【About plaintiffs】

The plaintiffs are citizens who live in area under the new flight path.

The plaintiffs and supporters from diverse backgrounds are taking a stand on this issue, including an emeritus professor and university lecturer, the head of a condominium association, a former CA, a former airport manager, a town council president, an owner-pilot, a current ward councilor, a business owner, a former journalist, and workers at the complex, among many others.

This case is a landmark lawsuit concerning the risk of life and property in the area of flight during “the critical 11-minute” period of aircraft navigation.

Furthermore, we believe that this is a lawsuit that questions the transparency and reasonableness of the government's policy decisions and is relevant to all citizens.

Throughout this lawsuit, we hope to think with you, the people who have taken an interest in this case, about how much the government's decision regarding the flight paths will affect the lives of people near the airport and whether this decision was well-reasoned.

Please help us with your support and donations. Thank you!