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The Deadliest Single Aircraft Accident in History
A crowded plane, a bad repair, and a tragedy
On August 12, 1985, a Boeing 747SR-46 took off from Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The flight, Japan Air Lines Flight 123, was a routine domestic route connecting two of Japan’s largest cities, Tokyo and Osaka. It was a popular route frequented by businessmen, celebrities, and vacationers. Due to a maximum capacity seating configuration, the plane carried a whopping 509 passengers and 15 crew.
The flight was supposed to last just over an hour, but twelve minutes into the route, the plane suffered from rapid decompression in the rear of the aircraft. The decompression incident caused the rear fuselage to collapse, and the sharp edges of the body severed the hydraulic system and damaged the tail of the aircraft. The loss of hydraulics led to a loss of control for the pilots. Without the hydraulic systems, the cockpit had no way to steer the aircraft.
Despite the decompression, the plane was still flying. The engines were working, and the pilots desperately tried to turn around and land back in Tokyo. However, it quickly became clear that the aircraft was unsteerable and thus uncontrollable.
