So these are plane crashes from around the world, but it's only for the countries that had a true crime case, if you don't see a plane crash in here, check my True crime from around the world book.
Warning, this book contains plane crashes and the a...
This plane crash takes us to the Asian country of Japan which is located near South Korea and Russia.
WARNINGS OF A PLANE CRASH
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Pictured above is the accident aircraft, photographed in 1984, a year before it crashed.
Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On the evening of Monday, 12th of August 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff. After flying under minimal control for 32 minutes, the plane crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, 100 kilometres (62 mi; 54 nmi) from Tokyo.
The aircraft, featuring a high-density seating configuration, was carrying 524 people. The crash killed all 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers on board, leaving only four survivors. An estimated 20 to 50 passengers survived the initial crash, but died from their injuries while awaiting rescue. The crash is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history and remains the deadliest aviation incident in Japan.
Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC), assisted by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, concluded that the structural failure was caused by a faulty repair by Boeing technicians following a tailstrike seven years earlier. When the faulty repair eventually failed, it resulted in a rapid decompression that ripped off a large portion of the tail and caused the loss of function of all hydraulic systems and flight controls.
The Boeing 747SR-46 with registration JA8119 (Juliet Alpha 8119) was built and delivered to Japan Air Lines in 1974. It had accumulated slightly more than 25,000 flight hours and 18,800 cycles (one cycle consisting of takeoff, cabin pressurization, depressurization, and landing).
On the 2nd of June 1978, while operating Japan Air Lines Flight 115 along the same route, JA8119 bounced heavily on landing while carrying out an instrument approach to runway 32L at Itami Airport (IATA: ITM, ICAO: RJOO). The pilot then excessively flared the aircraft, causing a severe tailstrike on the second touchdown. Of the 394 people on board, 25 sustained injuries, 23 minor and 2 serious. The tailstrike cracked open the aft pressure bulkhead. The damage was repaired by Boeing technicians, and the aircraft was returned to service. The aircraft had flown for 8,830 hours at the time.
At the time of the accident, the aircraft was on the fifth of it's six planned flights of the day. The flight had 15 crew members, consisting of 3 cockpit crew and 12 cabin crew.
The cockpit crew consisted of:
- Captain Masami Takahama (高浜 雅己, Takahama Masami), aged 49, served as a training instructor for First Officer Yutaka Sasaki on the flight, supervising him while handling the radio communications, and also acting as first officer. Takahama was a veteran pilot, having logged about 12,424 flight hours, including about 4,842 hours in 747s.
