[FReepaholic]

Fascinating. Like I said, I have no idea if this is true.

[cripplecreek]

I hadn’t really thought about the problems that could arise for planes in this situation.

[Yet_Again]

Only a Delta pilot would think to quote “Top Gun” to summarize a real ATC conversation (shaking head)....

[wizkid]

I bet it is true. My friend was flying to Tokyo on the day of the quake and got diverted to Sapporo.

[WesternPacific]

I believe this is probably a pretty accurate account of the chaos which took place that day and night. We had 11 commercial airliners land at Yokota US AF base. 2 stayed overnight with passengers being bused to temporary lodging, the other 9 refueled and left that night. The US Air force had several large tour buses lined up to disembark the passengers and take them to their temp lodging. The US Air Force response and the overwhelming volunteer support was amazing to see and be a part of.

[BobL]

Geeze - what a mess up there.

Why didn’t they just use an app?

[paddles]

If it were me I woulda gone straight to MCAS Iwakuni. The crematorium off base doesn’t smell so bad this time of year and the O’Club needs the business. The pax can take in a Hiroshima Carps game waiting for a flight out. What’s not to like?

[JRandomFreeper]

I listen to the local tower frequency, so I know who is flying overhead doing the dreaded 7 or 3 engine landing. Sometimes the conversations are very entertaining. "Negative, XXX, we can't authorize a landing, we've got guys checking the runway for FOD".

"Gotta land. Now would be good."

"Negative, XXX, we can't clear a landing. Give us 30 minutes."

30 minutes pass with a fighter jock burning holes in the sky in a right hand pattern.

"Tower, I need clearance to land."

Negative XXX, we cannot clear you to land. If you choose to land it is 'own risk'.

"I'll take that risk".

I did stay near an outside door during most of that conversation. I have no idea what was going on, but a lonely jet circling overhead was disconcerting.

/johnny

[=8 mrrabbit 8=]

Here > FlyerTalk > Reddit > Anecdotal > (unsourced)

Until we have the flight number, names, and the original author if not the pilot, then it is fiction.

=8-)

[Fiddlstix]

Bump
To read later

[=8 mrrabbit 8=]

Also appears that someone at FlyerTalk copied the story from without proper attribution as noted by a FlyerTalk member:

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/major/57933-dal-pirep-japan.html

...however that source’s link no longer appears to be present.

More and more looking like another “authoritative” “fiction” live other posted here.

=8-)

[vetvetdoug]

I have a close friend that was scheduled to fly to Tokyo and told me he would have arrived there about thirty minutes after the tsunami and quake. He called in and took off a week for sinus infection and missed all of the fun. He and I were having a cup of coffee over this just Thursday. Lucky him. However on 9-11 he got stranded 2000 miles from here.

[listenhillary]

Interesting ping.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Interesting, glad they made it, but if another plane had ended up crashing out of fuel within the 30 minutes they could have stay aloft, their false declaration of an emergency would come back to haunt them.

[Tucker39]

If someone did fabricate the story, they at least researched it enough to get the locations correct. And yes, either the former USAF-now-JASDF Base at Chitose or the Commercial Airport at Sapporo would be perfectly fine for landing a 767. BTW, when the Russian pilot, Lt. Belenko wanted to defect to the “west” and flew a new MIG-25 to Japan, he landed at Hakodate Airport, which is also on Hokkaido, but since he was unable to stop in time and ran it off the end of the runway, perhaps that airport would not handle a 767, either. Ver-r-r-r-ry Inter-r-r-r-r-resting!

[Northern Yankee]

Amazing story.

It had to be a nightmare for incoming aircraft pilots.

[yldstrk]

Why land in Japan at all? Go on to the mainland.