Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic Japan Airlines passenger flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Osaka International Airport, Japan. 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 Takamagahara, Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, 100 kilometres (62 miles; 54 nautical miles) from Tokyo thirty-two minutes later. The crash site was on Osutaka Ridge, near Mount Osutaka. Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission officially concluded that the rapid decompression was caused by a faulty repair by Boeing technicians after a tailstrike incident during a landing at Osaka Airport in 1978. The rear bulkhead of the plane had been repaired with an improperly installed doubler plate, compromising the plane's airworthiness. Cabin pressurization continued to expand and contract the improperly repaired bulkhead until the day of the accident, when the faulty repair failed, causing a rapid decompression that ripped off a large portion of the tail and caused the loss of hydraulic controls to the entire plane. The aircraft, configured with increased economy class seating, was carrying 524 people. Casualties of the crash included all 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers. Some of the passengers survived the initial crash but died of their injuries hours later while awaiting rescue. It is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history. Tailstrike incident On June 2, 1978, Japan Airlines Flight 115, a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Itami Airport, Osaka Prefecture, was carrying out an instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 32L at Itami Airport in Japan but bounced heavily on landing. The pilot excessively flared the plane, causing a severe tailstrike. There were no fatalities among the 394 people on board, but 25 people were injured, 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 crew of flight 115 consisted of a 41-year-old captain who had 7,912 flight hours, including 220 hours on the Boeing 747. The 36-year-old first officer had 564 flight hours, with 286 hours on the 747. The 44-year-old flight engineer had 4,070 hours and was the most experienced on the Boeing 747 out of all crew members, having flown 2,780 hours on it. The aircraft had flown for 8,830 hours at the time of the tailstrike incident. Aircraft and crew The accident aircraft was registered JA8119 and was a Boeing 747-146SR (Short Range). Its first flight was on January 28, 1974. It had accumulated slightly more than 25,000 flight hours and 18,835 cycles (one cycle consists of a takeoff, a cabin pressurization, and a landing) in service. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was on the fifth of its six planned flights of the day. There were fifteen crew members, including three cockpit crew and 12 flight attendants. The cockpit crew consisted of the following: Captain Masami Takahama (高浜 雅己, Takahama Masami) served as a training instructor for First Officer Yutaka Sasaki on the flight, supervising him while handling the radio communications, while also acting as the first officer. Takahama was a veteran pilot, having logged approximately 12,400 total flight hours, roughly 4,850 of which were accumulated flying 747s. Takahama was aged 49 at the time of the accident. First Officer Yutaka Sasaki (佐々木 祐, Sasaki Yutaka) was undergoing training for promotion to the rank of captain and flew Flight 123 as one of his final training/evaluation flights, acting as captain on the flight. Sasaki, who was 39 years old at the time of the accident, had approximately 4,000 total flight hours to his credit and had logged roughly 2,650 hours in the 747. Flight Engineer Hiroshi Fukuda (福田 博, Fukuda Hiroshi), a 46-year-old veteran flight engineer who had approximately 9,800 total flight hours, of which roughly 3,850 were accrued flying 747s.Passengers The flight was around the Obon holiday period in Japan, when many Japanese people make yearly trips to their home towns or resorts. Around twenty-one non-Japanese were on board the flight. By August 13, 1985, a spokesman for Japan Airlines stated that the list included four residents of Hong Kong, two each from Italy and the United States, and one each from West Germany and the United Kingdom. Some foreigners had dual nationalities, and some of them were residents of Japan.The four survivors, all female, were seated on the left side and toward the middle of seat rows 54–60, in the rear of the aircraft.Kyu Sakamoto, who is famous for singing "Ue o Muite Arukō", known in Anglophone countries under the title "Sukiyaki", was among those who perished in the crash. Sequence of events Take-off and decompression The aircraft landed at Haneda from New Chitose Airport at 4:50 p.m. as JL514. After more than an hour on the ramp, Flight 123 pushed back from gate 18 at 6:04 p.m. and took off from Runway 15L at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, at 6:12 p.m., twelve minutes behind schedule. About 12 minutes after takeoff, at near cruising altitude over Sagami Bay, the aircraft underwent rapid decompression bringing down the ceiling around the rear lavatories, damaging the unpressurized fuselage aft of the plane, unseating the vertical stabilizer, and severing all four hydraulic lines. A photograph taken from the ground confirmed that the vertical stabilizer was missing.The pilots set their transponder to broadcast a distress signal. Afterward, Captain Takahama contacted Tokyo Area Control Center to declare an emergency, and to request to return to Haneda Airport, descending and following emergency landing vectors to Oshima. Tokyo Control approved a right-hand turn to a heading of 90° east back towards Oshima, and the aircraft entered an initial right-hand bank of 40°, several degrees greater than observed previously. Captain Takahama, alarmed, ordered First Officer Sasaki to bank the aircraft back ("Don't bank so much."). 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. The Captain repeated the order to reduce the bank, as the autopilot had disengaged. He then ordered the first officer to bank it back, then ordered him to pull up. All of these maneuvers produced no response. It was at this point that the pilots realized that the aircraft had become uncontrollable, and Captain Takahama ordered the copilot to descend. 6:27 p.m. – 6:34 p.m. 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. Seeing that the aircraft was still flying west away from Haneda, Tokyo Control contacted the aircraft again. After confirming that the pilots we.... Discover the Jl Drake popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Jl Drake books.