Japan Air Lines plane crashes

The following are significant events involving the airline or its subsidiares. The numbered events are those involving at least one airline passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur. Only events since 1970 are included.

  1. 14 June 1972; Japan Air Lines DC8-50; near New Delhi, India: The aircraft crashed short of the runway during an approach in darkness, poor weather, and low visibility. All 11 crew members and 75 of the 78 passengers were killed.

  2. 28 November 1972; Japan Air Lines DC8-60; Moscow, Soviet Union: The aircraft stalled and crashed shortly after takeoff for undetermined reasons. Nine of the 14 crew members and 52 of the 62 passengers were killed.

  3. 27 September 1977; Japan Air Lines DC8-60; near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The aircraft was on an approach in heavy rain and low clouds and struck a hill about 4 miles (6.4 km) short of the runway. The crew had descended below minimum decision height without first establishing visual contact with the runway. Eight of the 10 crew members and 26 of the 69 passengers were killed.

  4. 8 February 1982; Japan Air Lines DC8-60; Tokyo Bay, Japan: Shortly before landing, the captain deliberately disengaged the autopilot and flew the aircraft into the bay. All of the crew members survived, but 24 of the 166 passengers were killed. It was later reported that the captain had been suffering from schizophrenia

  5. 12 August 1985; Japan Air Lines 747SR; Mt. Ogura, Japan: The aircraft had a sudden decompression that damaged hydraulic systems and the vertical fin. That damage also disabled the flight controls for the rudder and elevator. All 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers were killed.
    Boeing 747 plane crashes

    31 January 2001; Japan Air Lines; near Yaizu, Japan: Two wide-bodied JAL aircraft, one a DC10 traveling from South Korea to Tokyo and a 747 flying from Tokyo to Okinawa, nearly collided on January 31 near Yaizu. This occurred after an air traffic controller allowed the aircraft to nearly collide. About 42 people were injured after the crew of the 747 performed evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision.
    BBC report from 1 Feburay 2001
    BBC report from 2 February 2001
    Fatal midair collisions since 1960

    7 January 2013; JAL 787-8; Boston, MA: Prior to a scheduled flight from Boston to Tokyo, a maintenance and cleaning personnel noted that the auxiliary power unit (APU) disconnected and smoke began to enter the cabin and cockpit. Shortly afterward, smoke was coming from the aft electronics bay. Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) responded and confirmed the smoke was coming from the APU battery. One firefighter sustained minor injuries.
    NTSB battery fire incident report
    Other 787 safety events

    Dr. Todd Curtis of AirSafe.com hosted a 14 February 2013 webinar discussed the January 2013 grounding of the entire 787 fleet after two serious fires on a JAL and ANA 787 involving lithium ion batteries. Dr. Curtis summarized the status of the investigations by the NTSB and JTSB, and explains the process that Boeing and the airlines will go through in order to return the aircraft to service. Watch the 14 February 2013 webinar below, or on YouTube

Japan Air Lines plane crashes
http://airsafe.com/events/airlines/jal.htm -- Revised: 27 January 2017