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Radio antenna may have fallen off jet northwest of Narita airport

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@Yubaru: Perfect. Helicopter crash didn't even stay on the news longer than 12 hours unlike other issues such as Sumo.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"Get out the knives and pitchforks"

3 ( +5 / -2 )

The only "hills" I know of that are NW of Narita are the hills just south of Tsukuba Mountain and they are more like 40 km away. I wonder if they are talking about around Ami or Ushiku which has clumps of Totoro trees that might be confused with hills. I was there on Sunday. Yikes! My son and I were taking a break from shopping at the outlet mall and checking out the where the constant stream of flights were coming from on Flight Aware.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Proof is in the pudding, unless antenna are a natural growth in this mountainous region. I expect a NHK represtative to turn up aggressivly wanting to know who's antenna it is and did they pay their licence fee.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

There won't be a peep of protest until they prove that it came off an American Carrier

1 ( +8 / -7 )

May have fallen off?, it was found on the ground so it did fall off as there was no aircraft attached.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

May have fallen off?, it was found on the ground so it did fall off as there was no aircraft attached.

Until they can figure out exactly what aircraft is the culprit they will continue to say "may", can't point fingers at a civilian airline until they have "proof".

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The radiation shield found three months ago on a kindergarten roof in Okinawa, Cricky, could not be proved to have fallen from a US military helicopter of the type that uses those shields, and the US denied it anyway.

In other words, would someone put such an object where it would be found, and if so why? Until the actual aircraft is identified, we cannot assume that it 'fell' from an aircraft.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Pretty troubling that parts can fall off Passenger jets/Cargo planes... one wonders whether they're important parts and why they're on the aircraft if not. I mean, they not the wings or anything super critical like that.... but makes you wonder.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

mmwkdw: The article says it was a radio antenna. I would say that is "super critical," wouldn't you? Can't get landing instructions without it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There won't be a peep of protest until they prove that it came off an American Carrier

No, there won't be any protest unless it fell off a US military aircraft, specifically from Okinawa, and somehow landing on the grounds of a school-yard.

Even when the JSDF Helicopter crashed into a private home last month there were no "protests".

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Cricky, I can hear you asking for sources.

For reference, this is the incident on 7 December:

http://www.newsweek.com/us-military-aircraft-may-have-dropped-cylindrical-object-japanese-nursery-741393

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I would say that is "super critical," wouldn't you? Can't get landing instructions without it.

Are you sure about that? Radio waves can be used for various things - was this one definitely communication ?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Well, you tell me Strangerland. What other purpose do you suppose a "Radio Antenna" would have beside communicating with the control tower? Oh, perhaps the left wing could talk to the right wing and ask, "Hey right wing, how many wings does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Or any of a number of other things, some of which may be non-essential.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Point is, why put something upon an aircraft that can fall off and not be noticed if it's not important... surely if it was important there'd have been a big song & dance about it in the media... but this appears to be a side note. So therefore mustn't have been important, yet we hear a lot more about baggage allowance issues these days and I don't see any baggage being dropped off mid-flight... unless it's been shot down.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

RTA's are pretty expensive and normally they're not white.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I guess damage to antennas is more common that is commonly known and there are a LOT of them on an airplane. Which one is not important and would not be missed, I don't know. Anyway, this is a good, but short article about them and problems associated with them: http://www.mro-network.com/engineering-design/understanding-today-s-antenna-complexities

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Point is, why put something upon an aircraft that can fall off and not be noticed if it's not important... 

It may have been important, just not essential. Or maybe there were redundancies built in - ie other antennas that take over if one is missing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When I go hiking I see tons of garbage everywhere when I walk in the bush. So let's keep an open mind on it shall we? Of course the pro base people will jump on this but they have to realize that Narita Airport has more flights than there are in Okinawa air bases.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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