Japan Air Lines Flight 123

Japan Air Lines Flight 123

The stricken jet photographed approximately 6 minutes before the crash. The vertical stabilizer is largely missing.
Accident
Date	August 12, 1985
Summary	Crashed following in-flight structural failure and loss of control
Site	Mount Takamagahara, Ueno, Tano District, Gunma, Japan 36°0′5″N 138°41′38″E / 36.00139°N 138.69389°E / 36.00139; 138.69389
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 747SR-46
Operator	Japan Air Lines
IATA flight No.	JL123
ICAO flight No.	JAL123
Call sign	JAPAN AIR 123
Registration	JA8119
Flight origin	Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan
Destination	Itami Airport, Osaka, Japan
Occupants	524
Passengers	509
Crew	15
Fatalities	520
Injuries	4
Survivors	4

Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On August 12, 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe structural failure and decompression 12 minutes into the flight. After flying under minimal control for a further 32 minutes, the 747 crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, 100 kilometres (62 mi; 54 nmi) from Tokyo.

The aircraft, featuring a high-density seating configuration, was carrying 524 people. The crash killed all 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers on board, leaving only four survivors. An estimated 20 to 50 passengers had survived the initial crash, but died due to their serious injuries a few hours later while awaiting rescue. The crash of Flight 123 is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.^[1]

Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission (AAIC),^[2]: 129 assisted by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board,^[3] concluded that the structural failure was caused by a faulty repair by Boeing technicians following a tailstrike incident seven years earlier. When the faulty repair eventually failed, it resulted in a rapid decompression that ripped off a large portion of the tail and caused the loss of all on-board hydraulic systems, disabling the aircraft's flight controls.