In a bizarre incident last week, one of the busiest airports in Japan witnessed massive disruptions and cancelation of over 200 flights, causing widespread confusion and frustration among passengers. The reason behind the chaos: a pair of scissors.Â
According to a press release published by the Hokkaido Airports Co. Ltd., the airport’s operator, the alarm bells started ringing at the airport on August 17 when a staff member at a store in the New Chitose Airport reported that the scissors were missing.
There were concerns that the scissors might have been taken by a potential terrorist and used as a weapon aboard a plane. Consequently, officials at the facility located in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido decided to halt all operations.
All flights were canceled or delayed, security checkpoints were shut down, and rigorous security operations were launched. The mystery surrounding the lost scissors triggered a major crisis: about 201 flights, comprising 129 departures and 72 arrivals, were delayed. Additionally, 36 additional flights were canceled.
To ensure security, previously screened passengers had to undergo a second screening process, and the security checks were halted for around two hours. The entire process, along with the unprecedented delays caused by it, ended up frustrating the passengers who took to social media to express their annoyance. Some passengers even lauded the Japanese airport for having a strict security mechanism in place.
Missing scissors causes flight delays and cancellations at Japan airport
The security checkpoints at New Chitose Airport in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido were closed for two hours after the lost scissors were reported. pic.twitter.com/2SQReQLVPD
— MP (@Mp220Mp) August 21, 2024
In an unprecedented turn of events, the scissors that mysteriously went missing were finally tracked down, and it turned out that they were not, in fact, seized by a terrorist.
The company stated that the scissors were discovered by a store employee the day after they vanished following a search, but it had held off on declaring the missing item until it was certain they were the same pair.
“We are aware that the incident occurred due to the lack of proper usage, storage, and management systems by the store users,” New Chitose Airport’s operators said in a statement.
“We will investigate this incident, determine its cause, and prevent its recurrence. We will also reaffirm that this incident could relate to hijacking and terrorist attack, and we will ensure that all airport personnel are fully aware of the importance of management.”
The probe is expected to continue since the scissors have to be removed from a locked storage container each time they are used. New Chitose is one of Japan’s busiest airports, offering the second-most-traveled domestic air route in the world, which runs between Tokyo and Sapporo.
While this incident is making headlines, the prudence on the part of Japanese authorities may be a result of their previous experiences. In 1970, for instance, Japan Air Lines Flight 351, which departed from the Tokyo Haneda Airport for Fukuoka, was hijacked by members of the Red Army Faction of the Japan Communist League.Â
Having said that, the latest disruption at the New Chitose Airport was the second major disruption at a major Japanese airport this year. In January 2024, a collision at the Haneda Airport led to a halting of operations.
Collision At Haneda Disrupted Operations
On January 2, the first workday of the New Year, more than a hundred domestic flights between Tokyo’s Haneda airport and other Japanese airports were canceled due to a collision involving a Japan Coast Guard aircraft and a Japan Airlines airplane, leaving travelers stuck at many Japanese airports.
A De Havilland Canada Dash 8-Q300 flown by the Japan Coast Guard (JA722A) and an Airbus A350-900 operating Japan Airlines Flight 516 (JAL516) collided on the runway at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan on January 2, 2024. The Japan Airlines Flight 516 flew passengers domestically from New Chitose Airport, close to Sapporo, Japan, to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
According to television footage, when the Japan Airlines aircraft collided during landing, smoke shot out of its side, and an orange blaze burst from the aircraft. The aircraft then continued down the runway. All passengers and crew members evacuated via emergency chutes in less than twenty minutes.
Japan Airlines flight JL516, an Airbus A350 has collided with a Coast Guard aircraft on the runway at Tokyo-Haneda Airport. The aircraft is on fire with rescue operations underway. pic.twitter.com/BygfKxZBgh
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) January 2, 2024
About five Coast Guard members perished in the fire caused by the collision. At the time, a JAL representative stated that, within two days of the incident on the runway at Japan’s main airport, the airline had canceled over sixty domestic flights to and from Haneda, impacting over thirteen thousand passengers.
Following the runway closure, Nippon Airways announced that it had canceled over 90 domestic flights to and from the airport, affecting around 21,300 passengers.
An airport operator source reported that some 200 passengers were left stranded at Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport overnight, following 256 passengers who were left stranded overnight as a result of flight cancellations brought on by the incident.
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