The early evening in Tokyo was hot (83° F) and steamy, and one of the world's busiest air terminals, Haneda, was even more jammed and uncomfortable than usual. But most of the jostling travelers were in a festive, uncomplaining mood. The three-day observance of Bon, a holiday season nearly as joyous as New Year's, would begin the next morning. Many Japanese would devote the days to nostalgic visits to the places of their birth, to happy reunions with relatives, to paying homage to their ancestors. The more religious among them believed that the spirits of their forefathers would return to the family sites too and join in celebration with the living. But for 520 people who boarded Japan Air Lines Flight 123 bound for Osaka, the trip would be tragically one-way: before they could honor the dead, they would join them.
Just 45 minutes after leaving Tokyo on the planned one-hour run, the huge U.S.-built Boeing 747 smashed into a mountain in a wilderness area often called the Tibet of Japan's Gumma prefecture. The death toll made it the worst single-plane accident in aviation history. Only the collision of two other 747s, one taxiing and the second racing toward takeoff, at fog-shrouded Tenerife in the Canary Islands on March 27, 1977, killed more people: 583.
The crash in Japan was the fourth major air disaster this year. It followed the apparent midair disintegration of an Air-India 747 off the coast of Ireland on June 23, in which all 329 occupants perished. In February, an Iberia Boeing 727 crashed into a mountain in Spain, killing all 148 aboard. Just two weeks ago, a Delta Air Lines wide-bodied Lockheed L-1011 failed to reach the runway while attempting a landing in a thunderstorm at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, dooming 134. The accidents seemed to have little in common; in all but one, however, widebodied airliners were involved. With the JAL crash, the worldwide civil aviation death toll for 1985 passed 1,400, making it the most lethal air travel year in history and raising, once again, fears about safety in the skies.
The weather was humid but not unusual as Flight 123 lifted off runway C-15-L at Haneda and climbed through a light cloud cover. At the controls was Captain Masami Takahama, 49, who had flown for JAL since 1966 and was so highly regarded that he had been transferred from international to domestic routes four years ago so that he could help train new pilots. The rest of the crew included a co-pilot, a flight engineer and twelve cabin attendants. There were 509 passengers aboard the 747SR, a short-range version of the jumbo. JAL and All Nippon Airways are the only airlines that fly this model, which is structurally strengthened to absorb the jolts of the frequent takeoffs and landings required by shorter routes. As part of its fleet of 49 747s, the largest of any carrier in the world, JAL operated ten of the short-range types, which can accommodate more seats. The flight to Osaka (pop. 2,625,000), a commercial center 250 miles southwest of Tokyo, was sold out.