Japan Airlines Flight 123 disaster
The Japan Airlines Flight 123 disaster occurred on August 12, 1985, when a Boeing 747 jetliner, on a domestic flight from Tokyo to Osaka, tragically crashed, resulting in the deaths of 520 people. The flight was carrying many passengers who were traveling to celebrate Bon, a significant Japanese Buddhist holiday. Approximately twelve minutes after takeoff, the aircraft experienced a loud bang, leading to cabin depressurization. Despite the crew's efforts to maintain control for over forty-five minutes, the flight ultimately crashed into Mount Osutaka at a high speed.
Investigations revealed that a faulty repair on the aft pressure bulkhead, which had previously been damaged, led to the failure that caused the incident. Remarkably, four individuals survived the crash, including an off-duty flight attendant, who recounted the harrowing experience. The disaster prompted a thorough review of aircraft repair protocols and increased scrutiny of maintenance practices across the aviation industry. The impact of the crash continues to be felt, as it remains the deadliest single aircraft disaster in history, shaping airline safety regulations and procedures today.
Japan Airlines Flight 123 disaster
Date: August 12, 1985
Place: Mount Osutaka, Japan
Results: 520 passengers and crew members killed
Overview
The Boeing 747 jet airliner designated as Japan Airlines Flight 123 took off from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (also known as Tokyo International Airport) on August 12, 1985. The domestic flight was bound for Osaka, and many of the 524 people on board were traveling to their hometowns to celebrate Bon, a Japanese Buddhist holiday for visiting with relatives and remembering ancestors. About twelve minutes into the flight, a loud bang was heard by the pilot, copilot, and others on the plane. The plane’s cabin depressurized, and the pilot signaled an emergency and asked to return to Tokyo. Although the experienced crew members managed to keep the plane in the air for more than forty-five minutes, Flight 123 ultimately hit Mount Osutaka at a speed of 340 knots, or more than 391 miles per hour. A total of 520 people—505 passengers and 15 members of the crew—died.
Accident Unfolds
A review performed after the accident revealed that the cabin depressurized because a repaired area of the aft pressure bulkhead in the rear of the passenger cabin split. This split allowed the pressurized cabin air to pour into the unpressurized fuselage area outside the passenger cabin. As a result, a firewall failed and caused the vertical tail fin and the hydraulic systems connected to it to come off the plane.
These hydraulic systems are crucial to controlling the plane; without them, the pilots could not control the plane’s movement in any direction and were forced to use thrust changes to try to adjust steering and altitude. Thrust changes are accomplished by adjusting the engine speed. The flight crew extended the landing gear in anticipation of an emergency landing, which increased the challenge of controlling the plane. Landing at a US air force base and returning to the Tokyo airport were both considered, but the pilot, who may have been suffering from lack of oxygen, at times seemed confused. At one point, he told air traffic controllers that he was unsure of the plane’s location.
Around half an hour after the plane experienced explosive decompression, it had dropped to an altitude of only 5,300 feet. The flight crew increased the thrust to lift it back to 10,000 feet to avoid nearby mountains. Eventually, however, the crew lost the battle to gain altitude and maintain control. The plane crashed into Mount Osutaka at an altitude of 5,000 feet.
Aftermath
The area where the plane crashed was remote and mountainous, and the crash occurred at night, which hampered the efforts of rescuers, and the first teams, comprised of paratroopers who rappelled from helicopters, did not reach the site until the following morning. They found the plane destroyed and the bodies of victims burned and badly damaged, making identification difficult. It was determined that the passengers had been aware of their impending fate; many wrote notes to loved ones that were recovered after the crash.
It was assumed that all passengers and crew aboard had perished in the crash. When rescuers reached the scene, however, they found four who had managed to survive the crash. One of them, an off-duty flight attendant, was seated just under the point where the tail fin detached from the plane and explained to investigators that she heard a loud noise after which the plane filled with condensation and parts of the ceiling fell on passengers. After the plane crashed, she and the other three survivors were trapped in the plane for about sixteen hours before being rescued.
Previous Accident
The airplane designated as Flight 123 had already flown four flights that day. It most frequently flew short domestic flights and had logged 25,030 hours of flight time since it was put into service. It had suffered one prior serious incident: on June 2, 1978, the plane’s tail struck the ground while landing in Osaka. The accident injured twenty-five passengers and caused significant damage to the aft fuselage frame and pressure bulkhead as well as the skin, or outer surface, of the plane.
After this accident, a Boeing team performed repairs, which included replacing or fixing most of the aft fuselage, replacing a pressure relief door in the tail area of the plane, and replacing part of the aft pressure bulkhead. An inspection of the repair at that time indicated that some of the rivets were improperly installed, and a section of the bulkhead was spliced to compensate for this. A review after the Flight 123 crash determined this decreased the strength of that area about 70 percent. It was this section of the plane that failed during the fateful 1985 flight. Eyewitness photos of the plane showed that it was missing its tail fin in the last minutes of its flight, which was confirmed when the wreck was examined.
Impact
In the days immediately following the accident, the Japanese Transportation Security Administration ordered an inspection of all jumbo jet aircraft. The president of Japan Airlines, Yasumoto Takagi, assumed responsibility for the accident, which followed two other significant incidents involving the airline in just three years. Takagi later resigned.
The accident resulted in greater scrutiny of repairs by Boeing as well as the US Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies around the world, particularly when those repairs involved the outer surface of the plane. Rules were tightened and improved, and inspections in the months and years after repairs were made became more demanding. Tokyo International Airport also opened a Safety Promotion Center dedicated to training airport staff in the importance of their role in airline safety.
More than three decades after the accident, the explosive decompression and resulting crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 remains the deadliest single aircraft disaster in history.
Bibliography
Aquino, Faith. "Japan Airlines Flight 123 Crash Remembered on 28th Anniversary." Japan Daily Press. Japan Daily Press, 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 18 May 2016.
Hongo, Jun. "WSJ Archive: 30th Anniversary of Japan Airlines Flight 123 Crash." Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones, 11 Aug. 2015. Web. 18 May 2016.
Jackson, Harold. "524 Killed in Worst Single Air Disaster." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 13 Aug. 1985. Web. 18 May 2016.
Jameson, Sam. "747 Survivor Tells of Jet Breaking Up: Sections of Ceiling Fell; JAL Craft ‘Weaved Wildly.’" LA Times. Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 1985. Web. 18 May 2016.
Johanson, Mark. "Worst Plane Crashes in History and Their Aftermath." International Business Times. IBT Media, 19 June 2013. Web. 18 May 2016.
"Lessons Learned: Japan Flight 123, Boeing 747-SR100, JA8119." Federal Aviation Administration. US Dept. of Transportation. Web. 18 May 2016.