Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On August 12, 1985, the Boeing 747 operating the service suffered a severe structural failure and decompression 12 minutes into the flight. After flying under minimal control for a further 32 minutes, the 747 crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, 100 kilometers (62 mi) from Tokyo.
The aircraft, featuring a high-density seating configuration, was carrying 524 people. The crash killed 15 crew and 505 passengers. Some of the passengers survived the initial impact, but died hours later while awaiting rescue. All four survivors were seriously injured. The crash of Flight 123 is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.
JAL 123 departed from Tokyo’s Haneda airport at 18.12 and was scheduled to land in Osaka an hour later. Boeing 747 seats are fully booked. Because that night was a Japanese holiday and many people were going home or going on vacation.
When the plane was airborne as high as 7,300 meters (4.5 mi) in the skies of Tokyo the first emergency call came from the pilot. Initially the announcement announced that there had been a loss of altitude information and reported difficulties controlling the aircraft.
The plane then sloped around 3,000 meters (1.9 mi). The pilot continued to send emergency calls and asked to be diverted to Tokyo airport. But about 45 minutes after take-off, the plane crashed into Mount Takamagahara near Mount Osutaka.
Rescue efforts are made difficult because the accident site is remote and dangerous. It took 14 hours after the accident for emergency rescue crews to arrive at the scene. Some rescuers reached remote areas on foot.
The accident was attributed to the loss of the plane’s tail fin. It is likely that the section had weakened due to frequent landings and takeoffs.
Meanwhile, according to the results of the investigation revealed the cause of the accident was that one of the aircraft balancers was not repaired properly during the previous seven years. However, the airline was never responsible for the accident.
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A scandal was that an American Air Force C-130 spotted the wreckage soon after the crash and rescue helicopters were scrambling from an air base when they got orders to stand down. That the Japanese were NOT requesting any assistance. The survivors said that many more people survived the crash but gradually died over the time it took for rescuers to get there.
ReplyDeleteThere was no way the pilots could've brought the plane down for a controlled landing. That they kept it in the air as long as they did is considered a feat of aviation. No one in simulators have kept it up as long as they did.