Haneda Plans Three-strikes Rule To Bench Errant Pilots

Business aircraft captains who rack up three counted deviations from air traffic control instructions at Tokyo International Airport (RJTT, also known as Haneda Airport) will be grounded from serving as pilot-in-command there, under an enforcement program the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) is preparing for international business and general aviation traffic.

Reported by Universal Weather and Aviation, the restriction attaches to the individual pilot rather than the aircraft or the operator, so an operator can still use Haneda if a different, unrestricted captain takes the PIC seat. In a country where baseball is close to a national religion, the three-strikes framing gives an unusually plain-spoken shape to the accountability measure.

The measures take effect once JCAB revises the Haneda Airport Use Plan format to capture PIC information, according to Universal Aviation. Once that revised form is in use, JCAB will track deviations on a “Watchlist of Captains Requiring Special Attention,” which is maintained jointly by the Civil Aviation Bureau headquarters and the Tokyo Airport Office. A pilot who reaches three counted deviations becomes what the agency terms a “Restricted Captain” and loses the ability to serve as PIC on flights into or out of Haneda.

Counting won’t be automatic. JCAB reviews each deviation, including the ATC communication record, before adding it to a pilot’s tally, and a captain’s count drops by one after a full year passes with no further deviation.

The restriction is narrower than it might first sound. A restricted captain can still work a Haneda trip as second-in-command, since the limitation applies only to the PIC role, according to Hiroshi Higashiyama, representative director of Universal Aviation Japan and vice chair of the Japan Business Aviation Association. Operators who file an Airport Use Plan naming a restricted captain as PIC will be asked to swap in a different captain; failing to do so could result in broader consequences for that operator’s Haneda access.

JCAB’s push for tighter compliance follows a cluster of runway and taxiway incursions by foreign business and general aviation aircraft at Haneda. An Oct. 16, 2025 notification from the agency’s Air Transport Safety Unit tallied one incursion in September 2025 and two more that October, citing as examples an unauthorized entry onto Runway 04/22 and an entry onto closed taxiway A1. None of the events were classified as “serious incidents,” JCAB said, but the notification pointed to the collision accident at Haneda in January 2024 as a reason a runway incursion “can lead to a serious accident.”

The agency asked foreign operators to have crews review aeronautical publications—including the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), AIP supplements, and notams—before flights, follow ATC instructions precisely, and hold short of the runway to query any unclear clearance. A companion aeronautical information circular spells out that only four clearances authorize a pilot to enter a runway: “Cleared for take-off,” “Cross runway,” “Line up and wait,” or “Taxi via runway/Backtrack runway.”

Haneda’s 2026 summer-season briefing for arriving and departing crews, issued in March, points to several of the same trouble spots. It warns pilots taxiing from U4 not to stray into taxiway B6, cautions crews taxiing north on taxiway L not to miss the turn onto L15, and reminds pilots that crossing any active runway requires explicit ATC authorization. The same briefing asks pilots to clear a runway promptly after landing or crossing it and to taxi clear of the runway holding position markings on the exit taxiway.

Haneda’s tightened scrutiny of pilot compliance arrives amid a broader global push on runway and taxiway safety. In July, a Joint Runway Safety Initiative was launched to reduce runway incursions worldwide. The program is built around the better collection of near-collision and frontline safety data; stronger local runway safety teams that pair airlines, airports, and air navigation service providers; and wider sharing of mitigation lessons across airports with similar operations. The effort builds on existing programs including the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions and ICAO’s Global Runway Safety Action Plan. It dovetails with years of elevated attention to the issue in the U.S.