JAL, ANA, others reroute flights to avoid N Korean rocket path

I predict the DPRK will launch the rocket flawlessly. It will lift off perfectly from the pad, go straight up into the sky and fall directly back on the site about an hour later.

Anybody with an even cursory knowledge of math and probability knows that the odds of the debris hitting a plane are somewhere between zero and nil.

And anybody who has basic knowledge of NK's rocket tests history would know the probability of success is somewhere between a breakthrough and a miracle.

I would say that diverting flight paths is a good measure, making sure that no anomalies that may affect critical decision-making processes including, but not exclusive to Japan's missile defense preparations.

They should make these tools pay for all the extra expenses and headaches they're causing everybody. North Korea should be launching a food drive rather than a "satellite".

North Korea says the satellite will observe crops and natural resources and denies suspicions that the launch is intended to test long-range missile technology.

If this is the real reason for this "satelite" then im sure the U.S. would offer them the info gleaned from U.S. satelites if only NK was more compliant with requests for dialogue and cooperation.

Saw their mission control on the telly last night. 4 dual screen computers in a huge bunker/room with only 8 people to guide the launch. This thing is going to fall apart before it lifts off, there is no way this will reach space.

I wonder if its actuallty a satellite. For all we know it could be a weapon, and if it is a satellite it could be for long range missile attacks. This is what us Americans are thinking

and how good is thier technology to actually and accurately plan trajectories of this missle and its phases? 140kms east of the P.I. seems to close for comfort.

ExportExpert-Exactly! Thumbs up! And what crops are they talking about observing? Grandma's garden in the back yard?

I wish them luck with the launch as it would be foolish to otherwise.

Absolutely farsical.

Anybody with an even cursory knowledge of math and probability knows that the odds of the debris hitting a plane are somewhere between zero and nil.

Remember last year when space junk was falling into the earth. How come the same ridiculous precautions weren't taken back then?

This is all pompous hype and show.

It is the first time I heard that a plane got rerouted because of a satellite launch. So, after it was a success, I hope they will always reroute flights because I am scared that potential satellite debris might fall on the plane I am sitting in. Another good excuse to make our airfares more expensive because of the extra fuel they have to use aka MRT (missile rerouting tax) LOL

If the Japanese have so little knowledge about what is being launched, and so little faith that it might actually make it into space (because it obviously isn't carrying a satellite to beam Kim Family propaganda in a shouty woman's voice across the globe) how do they think that they can accurately or safely re-route commercial flights?

The only thing that worries me is that this firework could end up anywhere. I bet it doesn't end up where they claim it will.

This, bear in mind, is a country that prefers to spend money on dictator vanity projects and nuclear research rather than on feeding its population.

Word fail me, honestly

FnC

ANA and JAL divert flights for just a puff of cloud to avoid turbulence, so a rocket from NK would mean serious measures.

About 20 flights including Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Delta Airlines will be rerouted between Thursday and Monday, when North Korea says it will launch a satellite. ... Airline official Norio Higashimine said each flight will carry more fuel in case of an unexpected route change.

I guess, if Japanese politicians accepted the invitation and agreed to send observers to NK, there would be no need to have such a wide time window of rerouted flights, and no "unexpexted" route changes. Wondering who is going to pay the unnecessary risks and losses of the air companies?

If their "rocket" is anything like that ridiculous contraption they are calling a "satellite," nobody will need to worry about where it flies, because it won't go far.

I wonder if they diverted flights for H2 launches from Kagoshima? Given the success record of those rockets, they probably should have...

Well, the effect would be lost. Tepco scares much more than the North-Korean scarecrow. At that point, nobody cares. Even after rerouting the planes, there is no audience. Wrong strategy, Mr. Noda. Find us a cute hostage whose fate could make NHK viewers cry... I dunno, make a planeload of AB48 get abducted there for a few weeks. I'm sure the new Kim wouldn't damage them and we'd get a holiday here.