JAL 123

[thomas]

17th anniversary of the largest single air disaster in history. Flight JAL 123. The accidents is still surrounded in mysteries, especially in regard to the rescue mission that had started too late. Only 4 of the passengers survived. Sakamoto Kyu ("Sukiyaki") was among the 520 victims.

=> http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content...at=1&id=226205

Related links:

History & background info

=> http://www.airsafetyonline.com/indepth/ayers/123.shtml

=> http://kenji.fureai.or.jp/data/jal123/ (in Japanese)

Covers the route of JAL123 in detail as well as the transcript from the voice recorders.

=> http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetGOjg/120885.htm

Voice recorder transcriptions and route in English


If you have a strong constitution, listen to what happened in the cockpit during the final minute before the impact.

[thomas]

Here's another technical description of what happened

=> http://aviation-safety.net/database/1985/850812-1.htm

Below you can see the aircraft in flight. Note the missing vertical stabilizer ("tail fin").

[Twisted]

Uhm, this is not the right time for these kind of stories.
I have to fly 12 hours to Thailand in a few weeks...

[Tragedy]

I think that is no longer the worst airline disaster in history...if you know what I'm hinting at.

[Tragedy]

Whoops! Nevermind! I overlooked the word "single". Gomen!

[deborah gormley]

@ twisted all will be well with your flight, fingers and all else crossed, and you will be fine!

I read the transcript from that flight, scary, I dont fly often, and I dont wish too!!

[thomas]

According to statistics flying is still the safest transportation, Peter.

Flight JAL123 was an extreme case of negligence in aircraft maintenance. What's tragic about the rescue mission is that U.S. forces had offered their help and had already been airborne when they were called back because the Japanese government refused their assistance. Probably more people would have survived with their help. The four survivors (all of them in the tail section) were found 15 hours after the cash.

[moyashi]

Probably the Americans got called back because they hadn't gone through the right channels.

Same senerio during the Hashin Earthquake.

@stats
I've heard the same thing. You drive because the risk is low. You fly because the distance is far. You all die because you're in a plane. You just kill the other person when you drink and drive. statistics for you.

[xeo4d]

Flying is the SAFEST form of transportation there is. The level of attention to procedure and detail and time spent thinking of every possible scenario is amazing. Though we are all human. The statistic is that if you flew on an airline everey day you would be gauranteed dead after 26,000 years or a 1 in 10 million chance. An car is 1 in 14,000.

[名無し]

NHK News

Relatives of Victims Visit JAL Crash Site

Relatives of the victims of Japan's worst air accident are visiting the crash site on the 20th anniversary of the disaster.

On August 12, 1985, a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 crashed in mountains near Ueno Village, northwest of Tokyo, killing 520 people.

On Friday, people are climbing the mountains to visit the crash site, 1,600 meters above sea-level. Along the way, the visitors left the victim's favorite things and offerings of flowers, and prayed for them.

To accommodate aging family members, Ueno Village started a service last year to transport relatives two-thirds of the way up mountain roads usually used for construction. The families trek the remaining 800 meters to the site.

In late afternoon, relatives and local residents are to hold a memorial service at the foot of the mountains. They will light 520 candles, one for each victim, and offer silent prayers at 6:56 p.m., the time of the crash.

Flash Movie

[ArmandV]

It seems like yesterday. I remember the reports on the disaster. It was so sad to hear about passengers, knowing they were about to die, leaving messages for family members.

[Mars Man]

I was in Nagoya when it crashed. I will never forget the mood, the news, the panic in the announcers' voices. It was twenty years ago, and I still recall the heaviness in the air so very well--even the baseball games (Koushiin) were dampened by that sad, sad event. Flying is still safer than driving, and I have enjoyed it in the past when I flew a light plane a little.

[Keoland]

A sad day indeed

I just wish that the authorities would no longer be so slow when it comes to get all possible aid to victims of these kinds of accidents but, alas, I fear little has been learned in that regard

But at least the technical aspects were noted and measures were taken note and are now mostly avoided...

Regards,
Keoland

[Mike Cash]

There's a special running on television right now, for anyone who wishes to catch it.

[Buntaro]

Hi everybody!

I am an airline pilot. I feel fully confident and safe flying in airliners.

There was an airliner crash in Canada last week (the Air France Airbus). Everybody survived. That crash was compared to a smiliar crash 20 years earlier, where a lot of people died. (I am talking about a similar crash in Canada, not the JAL crash.) The regulatory agencies have come a long way to make travel safe. The non-deaths last week testify to that.

[kirei_na_me]

I'm pretty scared of flying, even though I've flown several times. I know I shouldn't be, though. I think the lack of control makes me scared. I feel like in a car, you can have some kind of control. In a plane, it's completely out of your hands...unless you're Buntaro...

Anyway, I saw something about this on NHK last night. I saw the memorial they have at the foot of the mountain, and a mother, whose 29 year old son died. She was making the trek up the mountain with another man. I didn't realize until later that this was the plane that Kyu Sakamoto died on. I knew he died on a JAL flight, but didn't realize it was this one. So sad...so many people died...

[jackbauer]

rest in piece