Video: 'JAL 123 Stayed Airborne for 30 Minutes Without its Tail Fin ? Air Disasters | Smithsonian Channel'
(Monday, August 12, 1985, 6:56 p.m. Japan Standard Time) — A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 with 524 people aboard crashed into a mountain northwest of Tokyo tonight after suffering a catastrophic structural failure and rapid decompression minutes after takeoff, killing 520 in the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.
Flight 123, a scheduled domestic service from Tokyo to Osaka, departed Haneda Airport shortly before 6 p.m. local time. Twelve minutes into the flight, the jumbo jet experienced explosive decompression that tore away part of its tail and crippled all hydraulic systems, investigators said.
The crew managed to keep the plane aloft for 32 minutes under minimal control before it slammed into the wooded slopes of Mount Takamagahara, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Tokyo.
Video: 'Inside the Unprecedented Event on Japan Airlines Flight 123 | Mayday: Air Disaster'
Four passengers survived. The rest — all 15 crew members and 505 of 509 passengers — died, including an estimated 20 to 50 who initially survived the crash but succumbed to their injuries before rescuers arrived.
Among the victims were Japanese singer and actor Kyu Sakamoto, and banker Akihisa Yukawa, the father of violinist and composer Diana Yukawa.
Japan’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, aided by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, determined the disaster was caused by a faulty repair carried out by Boeing technicians seven years earlier.
Video: 'Air Crash Investigation: Japan Airlines Flight 123 / Seconds from disaster FULL EPISODE'
The repair followed a tailstrike incident and left the bulkhead structurally weakened, investigators said.
When the repair failed, the resulting decompression disabled the aircraft’s flight controls, leaving the crew unable to maneuver.
The tragedy remains the deadliest aviation accident in Japan and a stark reminder of the consequences of maintenance failures.
