The pilots were given radar vectors to follow for an emergency landing. A proper repair would use a single splice plate (think of it as another slice of bread) inserted between the top and bottom halves to stabilize things. After more than an hour on the ramp, Flight 123 pushed back from gate 18 at 6:04 p.m.[8]and took off from Runway 15L[3]at Haneda Airportin ta, Tokyo, Japan, at 6:12 p.m., twelve minutes behind schedule. Miraculously there were four people who managed to escape death. as a small shock, to 6:56:32p.m. Raise the nose! "):298 Tokyo Control then contacted the aircraft again and repeated the direction to descend and turn to a 90 heading to Oshima. JAL president Yasumoto Takagi resigned. "), and while the pilots did not acknowledge the request over the radio, they did as instructed (Captain: "Yes, Yes, 119.7" Co-pilot: "Ah, Yes, number 2" Captain: "119.7" Co-pilot: "Yes" Flight Engineer: "Shall we try?" Some rescuers reached remote areas on foot. At 6:50 p.m. local time, a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747SR crashes into Mount Otsuka, 70 miles northwest of Tokyo. But U.S. investigators believe reports of a bulkhead failure are 'premature,' sources close to the U.S. team said Sunday. Instead, the Boeing 747 encountered trouble less than 15 minutes into its scheduled flight. *All my animations are FREE TO USE for your films with credit in description and comments, so I don't ruin your video with text on the screen.https://en.wiki. After traversing Suruga Bay and passing over Yaizu, Shizuoka,:7 at 6:31:02p.m., Tokyo Control asked the crew if they could descend, and Captain Takahama replied that they were now descending, and stated that the aircraft's altitude was 24,000 feet (7,300m) after Tokyo Control requested their altitude. The backward shock of the impact, measuring 0.14 g, in addition to causing the loss of the thrust of the 4th engine, caused the aircraft to bank sharply back to the right, and the nose to drop again. It seems that the pilots' vigorous efforts to save the plane contributed to the survival of four of the 524 people from death. | Quiz, Akasa Air CEO hints at airlines aircraft order size, SWISS presents its new long-haul cabin revamp, Lufthansa: recovery will continue during 2023, despite slight economic growth, Bavarian Airlines 18-year-old founder accused of fraud and being 15, Today in history: Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie, Celebrating 75 years of the Kangaroo Route: Qantas services to London, On this day: The crash of South African Airlines flight 295. They sat in row A to the left of the back of the plane. The accident aircraft, a Boeing 747SR-46, registration JA8119, serial number 20783, line number 230, first flew on January 28, 1974, and was delivered to Japan Air Lines in February 1974. :16 Hydraulic fluid completely drained away through the rupture. Max power. The unpressurized aircraft rose and fell in an altitude range of 20,00024,000 feet (6,1007,300m) for 18 minutes, from the moment of decompression until around 6:40p.m., with the pilots seemingly unable to figure out how to descend without flight controls. JAL Flight 123 had crashed, leaving just 4 survivors. :292, The aircraft was still in a 40 right-hand bank when the right-most (#4) engine struck the trees on top of a ridge located 1.4 kilometres (0.87mi) north-northwest of Mount Mikuni at an elevation of 1,530 metres (5,020ft), which can be heard on the CVR recording. On Monday, August 12, 1985, a Boeing 747SR operating this route suffered mechanical failure 12 minutes into the flight and, 32 minutes later, crashed into two ridges of Mount Takamagahara in Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Tokyo. The airline began as a domestic service from Tokyos Haneda Airport. The family of another victim, Kazuo Yoshimura, 43, received a blood-stained note in which Yoshimura asked his wife to look after their children. View original page. Postings here are the last known photographs or videos of a person. Boeing 747 seats are fully booked. Japan Air Lines Flight 123 (Japanese: ) 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. A differential thrust setting caused engine power on the left side to be slightly higher than on the right side. Twenty-two non-Japanese were on board the flight. A photograph taken from the ground confirmed that the vertical stabilizer was missing. Families of the victims, together with local volunteer groups, hold an annual memorial gathering every August 12 near the crash site in Gunma Prefecture. Captain: "No, look." Captain: "Power. :319 This greatly excited the phugoid motion,:291 and the aircraft pitched up, before pitching back down after power was reduced. The aircraft landed at Haneda from Chitose Airport at 4:50p.m. All of these maneuvers produced no response. The damage was repaired by Boeing technicians, and the aircraft was returned to service. The airlines generally do their own repairs on those, according to procedures set forth by Boeing and regulatory agencies,' Boynton said. Rescue workers combing the wreckage of the Boeing 747 said they found two emotional 'last wills' written by passengers before the plane plunged into a mountain in central Japan last Monday, killing 520 people. The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, French, and Spanish versions are automatically generated by the system. Shortly before the plane went down, amid urgent automated warning sounds and crew instructions to "pull up," Captain Masami Takahama can be heard exclaiming "It's the end." All but four passengers were lost in the accident. Japan Airlines flight 123, also called Mount Osutaka airline disaster, crash of a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger jet on August 12, 1985, in southern Gumma prefecture, Japan, northwest of Tokyo, that killed 520 people. This incident did not contribute to the Flight 123 accident. (Tokyo: "Japan Air 124 [sic] fly heading 090 radar vector to Oshima." Co-pilot: "Yes"). Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport (also known as Tokyo International Airport) to Osaka International Airport (Also known as Osaka Itami Airport). In addition to farewell notes and messages, rescue workers discovered a message from a passenger who had expressed their own regret. JA8119 made an emergency landing at Itami Airport seven years before the crash, after experiencing a tail strike. Later on, cracks in the damaged bulkhead caused it to fail as a result of the stresses experienced in flight. Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic Japan Airlines passenger Japan Airlines 123 flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Osaka International Airport, Japan. Co-pilot: "All loss?" Suspicion focused on the rear bulkhead after pieces of the plane's tail were found along the flight path, indicating it ripped apart before the crash, and Japanese investigators reported finding a series of cracks in the wreckage. At this point, the captain asked the flight engineer to request their position (Captain: "Request position" Flight engineer: "Request position"). In the months after the crash, domestic traffic decreased by as much as 25%. Tragically, as Aerotime Aviation News would report, an investigation would later conclude that the accident was not inevitable. The plane, Japan Air Lines Flight 123, was flying from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to the western city of Osaka when it crashed into the mountain, about 45 minutes after its 6:12 p.m. takeoff . Incidents without recordings have transcripts of what was said. At this point, hypoxia appears to have begun setting in, as the pilots did not respond. I don't want to fly anymore. On Monday, August 12, 1985, the Boeing 747SR that made this route, registration #JA8119, suffered mechanical failures 12 minutes into the flight and 32 minutes later crashed into two ridges of Mount Takamagahara in Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, 100 kilometers (62 . `, Cara Mengatasi Cemas Berlebihan Alias Anxiety, Towards Zero Emissions, Japan-Australia Launches Hydrogen Supply Chain, 70 Wild Horses 'Warisan' Pablo Escobar Wants To Be Sent To India And Mexico, 16 Years After Killing 5 Children, This Mother Asks To Be Injected To Die And Approved By The Government. The 787 has had more crashes than any other aircraft, with a total of 20 crashes. Japanese investigators listened to the plane's cockpit voice recorder, which taped the last 30 minutes of the flight, and continued analyzing the flight data recorder, which shows engine and control readings. What they say could well be true. :320 The aircraft's airspeed increased as it was brought into an unsteady climb. :292 Captain Takahama immediately ordered the flaps to be retracted ("Hey, halt the flap"),:326 and power was added abruptly, but still with engine power higher on the left vs. the right engines. :297, Heading over the Izu Peninsula at 6:26p.m., the aircraft turned away from the Pacific Ocean, and back towards the shore. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. The crash site was on Osutaka Ridge (, Osutaka-no-One ? Almost 37 years later, debris from the disaster continues to fall. The Boeing 747 aircraft flew without fault until that fateful day on August 12, 1985, when, 12 minutes after Flight 123 took off, at around 24,000ft, the aircraft suffered a decompression. 08/12/1985 18:56 LOCATION: Tokyo-Haneda, Japan CARRIER: Japan Airlines FLIGHT: 123 AIRCRAFT: B-747-SR46 REGISTRY: JA8119 ABOARD: 524 FATAL: 520 DETAILS: Bulkhead failure. For reinforcing a damaged bulkhead, Boeing's repair procedure calls for one continuous splice plate with three rows of, Consequently, after repeated pressurization cycles during normal flight, the bulkhead gradually started to crack near one of the two rows of rivets holding it together. The airline began as a domestic service from Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Tragically, only four passengers survived the crash. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Upon finding the bodies of the passengers the following day, it became apparent that more had survived the impact, but sadly later died of shock, overnight exposure high up in the mountains, and injuries that might not have been fatal had they been tended to sooner. :10809, The aircraft's crash point, at an elevation of 1,565 metres (5,135ft), is in Sector 76, State Forest, 3577 Aza Hontani, Ouaza Narahara, Ueno Village, Tano District, Gunma Prefecture. The center opened April 24 in a building at Tokyos Haneda airport with 41 pieces of wreckage of the jet on display, including the collapsed pressure bulkhead believed to have caused the sudden decompression and loss of tail fin that led to the crash. Even so, it was the phugoid effect that drove UA 232 into the ground right at touchdown. Bakari, who was suffering from hypothermia as well as a broken collar bone and facial contusions, thus far only has sketchy memories of the crash: instructions being given to the passengers, a jolt "like electricity," a big noise, and then being in the water. Sometime in the early hours of June 30, the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean as it approached Hahaya Airport. The causes behind both crashes are still being investigated, but one major difference between the two is that one person managed to survive the Yemenia disaster. was a scheduled domestic Japan Airlines passenger flight from Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport) to Osaka International Airport, Japan. Suppressing the Dutch roll was another matter, as the engines cannot respond quickly enough to counter the Dutch roll. After more than an hour on the ground, Flight 123 pushed back from gate 18 at 6:04p.m. It took three months for Keiko to recover from the severe wounds he suffered. Medical staff later found bodies with injuries suggesting that people had survived the crash only to die from shock, exposure overnight in the mountains, or injuries that, if tended to earlier, would not have been fatal. It is likely that the section had weakened due to frequent landings and takeoffs. As scary as they sound, tail strikes rarely cause serious injuries themselves, but the damage can cause long-term problems if not fixed correctly. A tail strike occurred on the aircraft in June 1978, which was caused by an earlier incident. The aircraft continued on this trajectory for 3 seconds, until the right wing clipped another ridge containing a "U-shaped ditch" 520 metres (1,710ft) west-northwest of the previous ridge at an elevation of 1,610 metres (5,280ft). 'We've heard about a dozen scenarios. Tokyo: "Uncontrol, roger understood. The aircraft was oscillating, climbing, and descending in 4,000 feet cycles, which lasted about 90 seconds each, while at the same time rolling side to side. japan airlines flight 123 survivor interview. The reason is that both Keiko's parents and her younger sister died in the accident. was a scheduled domestic Japan Airlines passenger flight from Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport) to Osaka International Airport, Japan. The pilots set their transponder to broadcast a distress signal. I really hope I get that experience. Japan Air retired their last Boeing 747 on March 1, 2011, ending 41 years of service with the airliner. Case Study. Boeing 747 operations at JAL ended in 2011 when the last 747-400 was returned to the lessor as part of the airlines efforts to cut costs, with twin-engined widebodies such as the Boeing 777, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and Airbus A350 utilized on the routes instead. Cracks in the bulkhead were fixed poorly. In 1978, the JAL 747 that would eventually crash as Flight 123 in 1985 was involved in a tail strike incident, says Aerotime. The accident report indicates that the captain's disregard of the suggestion is one of several features "regarded as hypoxia-related in [the] CVR record[ing]. In a will addressed to his wife and two children, Hiroji Kawaguchi, 52, wrote: 'I don't think I will survive. Flap!" as JL514. I think this happened on one of these routes. Many aviation experts praised the pilot for being able to keep a damaged plane in the air for nearly half an hour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Airlines_Flight_123. 4 engine on landing at Chitose Air Base in poor visibility. Ramdan Febrian, Editor: Co-pilot: "Yes." ___Discord server: https://discord.gg/MKmn6MatABUseful links to various bits of info below:CVR Audio videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv1sXhWfG. Despite the complete loss of control, the pilots continued to turn the control wheel, pull on the control column, and move the rudder pedals up until the moment of the crash. I don't think anyone has submitted this, but it's a website with many recordings of black boxes and air traffic controllers. Our people have been unable to verify that there were any cracks. :296 When the aircraft did not respond to the control wheel being turned left, he expressed confusion, after which the flight engineer reported that the hydraulic pressure was dropping. ', Glitches delay start of Florida recount for senator, governor. [17] As for cracks in the bulkhead, Boynton said, 'We're not aware of any bulkhead cracks. Also, UA232 was trimmed for cruise, whereas JL123 was trimmed for climb. 37 years ago today, on the evening of August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 departed from Tokyo Haneda Airport, bound for Osaka. Only four of the 520 on board survived. One day, that might just happen. A Japan Airlines flight carrying 520 passengers and crew crashed near Mount Mikuni in Japan in 1963. The discovery came nearly a year after engine parts were also found in the same area. 2023 VOI - Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan. :150 Due to the apparent loss of control, the aircraft did not follow Tokyo Control's directions and only turned right far enough to fly a north-westerly course. The crash was eventually attributed to an improper repair in the rear bulkhead several years earlier . The aircraft, an 11-year-old Boeing 747SR, registered JA8119, was configured for high density, domestic routes. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name According to the accident report, "Suppressing of Dutch roll mode by use of the differential thrust between the right and left engines is estimated practically impossible for a pilot. The tone of the images changed drastically in the final two frames. Tokyo Approach then contacted the flight via the SELCAL system, briefly activating the SELCAL alarm again until the flight engineer responded to Tokyo's request. Today, there is a memorial dedicated to the 520 victims of Flight 123, located near to the crash site. I often wonder which is a worse way to go when it comes to Airline crashes JAL 123 or Alaska Air 261. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Airlines_Flight_261, One may seem like the pilots have things under control and you may actually get out of it (JAL), the other seems like a violent ride straight to hell (ALaska). With many of the aircraft's, The events of Flight 123 were featured in "Out of Control," a, It is featured in season 1, episode 2, of the TV show, The cockpit voice recording of the incident was incorporated into the script of a 1999 play called. On August 12, 1985, a Boeing 747SR operating this route suffered a sudden decompression twelve minutes into the flight and crashed in the area of Mount In the aftermath of Monday's Japanese crash, Britain's Civil Aviation Authority ordered inspections on all 32 747s flown by British air carriers. The post-crash investigation surmised that an improper repair like this one would mean the plane would only be able to go through about 10,000 more pressurization cycles. JAL paid 780 million (US$7.6 million) to the victims' relatives in the form of "condolence money" without admitting liability. In 1986, for the first time in a decade, fewer passengers boarded JAL's overseas flights during the New Year period than the previous year. :16 This is possibly due to the effects of hypoxia at such altitudes, as the pilots seemed to have difficulty comprehending their situation as the aircraft pitched and rolled uncontrollably. With Charley Speed. In the case of JAL 123, Boeing technicians mistakenly used two splice plates, which weren't strong enough to withstand the repeated cycles of pressurization and depressurization imagine the way your ears pop during takeoff and landing that airplanes go through as part of normal usage. The center has displays regarding aviation safety, the history of the crash, and selected pieces of the aircraft and passenger effects (including handwritten farewell notes). All 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers died in the accident. 12 August, 1985 saw the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history. :324 At this time, the aircraft began to turn slowly to the left, while continuing to descend. Despite the implementation of more stringent safety procedures, airline accidents continue to occur at an alarming rate, but this trend could reverse as safety measures are put in place. Route of JAL123 Sequence of events The aircraft landed at Haneda from New Chitose Airportat 4:50PM as JL514. After flying under minimal control for a further 32 minutes, the 747 crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara . They were upside down two different times before it crashed. Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC),:129 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 incident suffered by the accident aircraft seven years earlier. To enjoy our content, please include The Japan Times on your ad-blocker's list of approved sites. After that he fully recovered and returned to live. United Press International reported that despite heroic measures by the flight's crew, the plane would disappear from radar some 20 minutes later. When it finally failed, the resulting rapid decompression ruptured the lines of all four hydraulic systems and ejected the vertical stabilizer. In this special documentary, a nurse reveals her story for the first time on TV, a newspaper photographer who filmed the crash site shares. According to the Associated Press, the flight was to be a short one, from Tokyo to Osaka, with a little over an hour in the air. CPI Aero signs contract with Sikorsky Black Hawk fuel assemblies. Tokyo Control approved a right-hand turn to a heading of 090 east back towards Oshima, and the aircraft entered an initial right-hand bank of 40, several degrees greater than observed previously. 3 children killed, 2 hospitalized in North Texas domestic incident, At least 5 dead following year's first severe spring weather outbreak, 'Saving Private Ryan,' 'True Romance' actor Tom Sizemore dead at 61, Dozens killed, injured as Jakarta fuel depot fire engulfs neighborhood, Russian defense minister visits front lines as Ukraine's hold on Bakhmut slips. Rescue efforts are difficult because the accident site is so remote and dangerous. But. Consequently, with repeated pressurization cycles over time, the bulkhead gradually began to crack and weaken around the rivets that were holding the repair together until it failed. | FAQs | ^Mods | Magic ^Words. At 6:35p.m., the flight responded, with the flight engineer handling communications to the company. Years ago my family rented the movie Airplane the day before my Dad was going to fly across country. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The incident caused injuries to 25 of the passengers on board and cracked open the rear pressure bulkhead. On June 2, 1978 , while operating Japan Air Lines Flight 115, a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Itami Airport, Osaka Prefecture, JA8119 was carrying out an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 32L at Itami Airport in Japan but bounced heavily on landing. The flight was around the Obon holiday period in Japan when many Japanese people make yearly trips to their hometowns or resorts. While Boeing 747s were still used on the same route operating with the new flight numbers in the years following the crash, they were replaced by the Boeing 767 or Boeing 777 in the mid-1990s. On that day, 520 people lost their lives, and Flight 123 went down in history as the deadliest single-plane accident in aviation history. The four survivors, all women, were seated on the left side and toward the middle of seat rows 5460, in the rear of the aircraft. Text. The aircraft had flown for 8,830 hours at the time of the tailstrike incident. JAL123 180024,000 1351856 [4] [ ] 15 4912,423417474,850 [ 4] 393,963347472,650 Based on this report, JSDF personnel on the ground did not set out to the site on the night of the crash. China Confirms Pressing J-20 Mighty Dragons Into Action; Fighter Pilot Says Can Search & Track All Stealth Jets :310 The aircraft then began a right-hand descending 420 turn from a heading of 040 at 6:40p.m. JAKARTA - The incident of Japan Airlines (JAL) flight 123 which occurred today 12 August 35 years ago or in 1985 became one of the deadliest single airplane accidents in history. Description. The component failed while the aircraft was climbing to 23,900 feet on August 12, 1985, as a result of this flaw. Power! Could Japan Airlines Flight 123 have been flyable had the pilots had access to Boeing engineers? In the final moments, as the airspeed exceeded 340 knots (630km/h; 390mph), the pitch attitude leveled out and the aircraft ceased descending, with the aircraft and passengers/crew being subjected to 3 g of upward vertical acceleration. Japan commemorated the 37th anniversary of a tragic tragedy that killed 520 people. ":89 Shortly after 6:40p.m., the landing gear was lowered in an attempt to damp the phugoid cycles and Dutch rolls further, and to attempt to decrease the aircraft's airspeed to descend. The captain's daughter, Yoko Takahama, who was a high-school student at the time of the crash, went on to become a flight attendant for Japan Air Lines. shows that the vertical stabilizer is missing, Correct (top) and incorrect splice plate installations, Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan, Japan Air Lines Flight 123 Accident (August 12, 1985) CVR and ATC, Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, suicide intended to atone for the incident, Japan Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism Minister, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, Nihonkk (kabu) shozoku Boeing 747 SR-100-gata JA8119 Gunma ken Tano-gun Ueno-mura, Aircraft Accident Investigation Report on Japan Air Lines JA8119, Boeing 747 SR-100 (Tentative Translation from Original in Japanese), Nihonkk kabushikigaisha shozoku bingu-shiki 747 SR-100-gata JA8119 ni kansuru kk jiko hkoku-sho, Dealing with Disaster with Japan: Responses to the Flight JL123 Crash, 1985 Narita International Airport bombing, Aviation accidents and incidents caused by loss of control, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure, Airliner accidents and incidents involving in-flight depressurization, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors, Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747, History of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Airliner accidents and incidents caused by tailstrikes, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Crashed following in-flight structural failure. Image by Eluveitie via WikiMedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. The bulkhead questions also gave rise to new speculation about the crash of an Air-India Boeing 747 that crashed off Ireland in June, killing all 329 people aboard. In instances of crashes where there was a sole survivor, 75% of those individuals were either a minor or a member of the flight crew. Bahia Bakari, through some quirk of fate, has joined a very select group " those who have survived major airplane crashes. This week marks the 35th anniversary of the deadliest single aircraft accident in aviation history. The pilots valiantly wrestled with the aircraft and, against the odds, with no directional control, kept it flying for 32 minutes. Japan Airlines no longer uses flight number 123. 123 Japan Airlines Flight 123; . But speaking of statistics, even though 2.5 billion of us board a plane every year, we are still more likely to be involved in an automobile accident than a plane crash. Also, the captain and co-pilot asked the flight engineer repeatedly if hydraulic pressure was lost, seemingly unable to comprehend it. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. In compliance with standard procedures, Japan Air Lines retired flight number 123 for their Haneda-Itami routes, changing it to Flight 121 and Flight 127 on September 1, 1985. Shortly after lowering the gear, the flight engineer asked if the speed brakes should be used ("Shall we use speed brakes? God, please save me,' as the jumbo jet tumbled through the sky before. The improper repair reduced the effective resistance to fatigue cracking. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. At 18:56 local, the aircraft, now banking 40, struck trees on the mountainside and, moments later, the right wing clipped a ridge, breaking the aircraft up and coming to rest between two ridges. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites. At 18:24:35, there was a booming noise just before reaching a cruising altitude of 24,000 feet (7,315 meters) and approaching the east coast of the Izu Peninsula. Japan Airlines flight 123, also called Mount Osutaka airline disaster, crash of a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger jet on August 12, 1985, in southern Gumma prefecture, Japan, northwest of Tokyo, that killed 520 people. TOKYO (AP) _ One of the inspection engineers who issued a certificate of airworthiness for a Japan Air Lines plane that crashed in August 1985, killing 520 people, has committed suicide, police said Wednesday. The Japan Airlines flight 123 crashed on August 12, 1985, at Mount Osutakayama in Hokkaido, Japan. 37 years ago today, on the evening of August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123 departed from Tokyo Haneda Airport, bound for Osaka. Flap stop crowding together." Update now. This was repaired successfully and the aircraft again returned to service. At this point, the pilots realized that the aircraft had become virtually uncontrollable, and Captain Takahama ordered the copilot to descend. Most of the 153 passengers aboard had flown in from Paris and Marseilles before switching planes in Sana'a en route to Comoros. The disaster claimed the lives of 520 people, leaving only four survivors. JAL123: "But now uncontrol." Yet according to the Airsafe.com Foundation, there is no logical explanation for that particular statistic. Kyu Sakamoto, born Hisashi Oshima - December 10, 1941 - August 12, 1985 - was a popular Japanese singer and actor. They are sad, but interesting records of aviation crashes. All of the survivors were seated in the rear of the aircraft.