Toshiyuki Shinmachi, president of Japan Airlines (JAL), said on Thursday he will increase efforts to ensure the safety of passengers after a series of accidents suffered by the nation's largest airline. "We sincerely apologize for seriously troubling the public," Shinmachi told at a Tokyo press conference. In January, a Japan Airlines aircraft attempted to take off without approval from air traffic control at New Chitose Airport in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, an incident that could have caused a rear-end collision on a runway. The JAL flight with 201 passengers on board was ordered to move to the runway and wait. But on its arrival, the pilot began to accelerate and initiate pre-take off maneuvers. The Transport Ministry has ordered the grounding of the JAL pilot for 30 days. Among other incidents, a parked JAL plane with 127 passengers on board was hit by a maintenance vehicle at Tokushima airport in western Japan and another JAL jet entered a runway at Incheon airport in South Korea without approval from controllers. "We want JAL to show action to make every effort to ensure safety," Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said. His ministry has decided to visit and examine JAL facilities regularly until the end of the year to see there is an improvement of the safety.
