Tokyo overflights
Something new in Tokyo. For the first time since I’ve been living here there are now regular, low-altitude commercial aircraft flying over the city. Until now, low-flying helicopters have been a daily sight, but the only commercial aircraft have been high-altitude planes cruising. In Canada, my hometown is on a flight path approaching Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and at some times - particularly during the summer - low-flying aircraft on their final approach are common if we sit out in the garden. But never in Tokyo, where the US Air Fore based at Atsugi Naval Air Station in Tokyo’s western suburbs has long enforced a no-fly zone. Aircraft approaching Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport (one of two airports serving the capital) always approached from the east, from the Pacific Ocean, across the Boso Peninsula and then across Tokyo Bay to land on the runway right at sea level. That kept noise levels down and it ensured safety for residential neighbourhoods that feared falling objects and crashes. But negotiations with the USAF allowed the no-fly zone to be opened up, allowing more aircraft to fly into Haneda. Before the COVID-19 shutdowns and postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games this was seen as good for the economy, good for business, and good for the high traffic that the Olympic Games were expected to bring.
The inauguration of a Haneda flight path directly over central Tokyo was not a surprise. It was in the works for a couple of years, it was announced, and practice flights began to be flown over the city as early as February 2020. So now, this is what I am living with. Every afternoon - not in the morning, the evening or at night, but in the afternoon - commercial planes are flying directly over my neighbourhood low enough that I can clearly see their livery, their landing gear, the features of their wings, engines and fuselages - even their windows. Some fly lower than others over my neighbourhood. I have been trying to get good pictures on my camera, but to get the shots I want I have to zoom in, and when I zoom in any shaking in my hands - like what is caused by my pulse - spoils the shot. That’s what tripods are for. I guess a tripod is what I need. I’m not going to get one, but that’s what I need to steady those zoom shots
Anyway, at first the flights felt exciting. They reminded me of summer time in Guelph. But pretty soon they became noisy and just plain annoying. Even as airline traffic quickly began to dry up in mid-March due to flight cancellations, travel restrictions, and a “state of emergency” due to the coronavirus, overhead flights continued. I guess they diminished somewhat, but they did not end. Even though most international flights were suspended, domestic flights continued to operate.