Japan Airlines

Incidents and Accidents

• In 1952, a Martin 2-0-2 of Japan Air Lines crashed, killing all 37 on board.
• On August 12, 1985, Japan Airlines flight 123, a 747 bound for Osaka International Airport, Itami/Toyonaka, lost control and crashed into a mountain after takeoff from Tokyo International Airport, Ota, Tokyo; it is the worst single-aircraft disaster in history; 520 out of 524 people on board died (excludes an unborn baby who died).
• On 22 January 2005 a Japan Airlines Boeing 777-200 aircraft (with 211 people on board) at Sapporo airport, Japan, began its take-off run without being cleared to do so and was told by air traffic control to abort, which it did. The fault was compounded by the failure of the captain to report the event, for which the airline was reprimanded by the ministry of land, infrastructure and transport (ref: Flight International, July 2005).
• On August 12, 2005 metal fragments fell in a Fukuoka residential area from a JALways plane bound for Honolulu after an engine briefly caught fire, underlining JAL's recent poor safety record. A boy and a man were injured by fragments. The plane was forced to return to Fukuoka Airport and land there. The sight of flames coming from the engine was captured by a NHK film crew which happened to be recording because the service to Hawaii is soon to be withdrawn as it is unprofitable. http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20050812p2a00m0na026000c.html