Japan Air Lines Flight 446

1972 aviation accident

Japan Air Lines Flight 446
Accident
A Douglas DC-8 used by Japan Airlines, similar to the aircraft involved
Date	28 November 1972 (1972-11-28)
Summary	Aerodynamic stall due to pilot error
Site	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62
Operator	Japan Air Lines
Registration	JA8040
Flight origin	Copenhagen Airport, Copenhagen, Denmark
Stopover	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
Destination	Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), Tokyo, Japan
Occupants	76
Passengers	62
Crew	14
Fatalities	62
Injuries	14
Survivors	14

Japan Air Lines Flight 446 was a Japan Air Lines flight from Sheremetyevo International Airport of Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.

On November 28, 1972 the DC-8-62 on the route crashed during the initial climb phase upon takeoff from Sheremetyevo. While it is established by investigation that the direct reason for the crash was stalling shortly after takeoff, the Soviet Accident Investigation Committee noted the possibility of accidental deployment of the spoilers and reduced thrust due to engine problems as the cause for this accident.

Accident

On November 28, 1972, Japan Air Lines Flight 446, operated by JA8040 (a DC-8-62), departed from Copenhagen Airport in Denmark bound for Tokyo International Airport in Japan with an intermediate stop at Sheremetyevo International Airport. At 7:51 PM Moscow time (1:51 AM, Nov 29 for Tokyo time), the flight took off from Sheremetyevo, reached an altitude of 100 metres (330 ft), stalled, and crashed 150 metres (490 ft) beyond the runway end, 30 seconds after leaving the ground.

On board were 6 flight crew (3 of them backup crew), 7 cabin crew, 1 employee of Japan Air Lines, and 62 passengers (of whom 52 were Japanese). All except for 5 flight attendants and 9 passengers perished, which made 62 fatalities. All survivors were seated near first-class seats located in the front section of the fuselage, suffering severe injuries. Eight of the surviving passengers were Japanese; the other was E. Bruce Smith of New Zealand.

The aircraft involved, JA8040, was delivered on July 1969, and written off less than 3.5 years after its delivery, thus being the most short-lived among Japan Airlines' DC-8s. This aircraft was noted for previous involvement in several major incidents: with the nickname Hida, it was used to carry passengers involved in the hijack of Japan Air Lines Flight 351 back to Japan in April 1970; on November 6, 1972, 22 days before the crash, this plane was offered to the hijackers of the JA351 hijack in response to their demand to flee to Cuba, although they were ultimately arrested at Haneda Airport.

This was the second fatal accident within the same calendar year for Japan Air Lines, following Japan Air Lines Flight 471 in June.

Reason

The Soviet Accident Investigation Committee released (according to ICAO standard) the result of CVR and FDR data analysis.

CVR transcript:

00s (Takeoff roll begin)

10s "Time?" "Time is OK." "It's a bit slow..."
25s "Yes." "What?" "We are going."
30s "V1." at 129kt(IAS)
40s "Rotation." "Attention." at 145kt
45s "V2." at 154kt
50s (Mechanical sound)
55s "What's up?" "Spoiler!" at 350ft
60s "What's this?!" "Sorry..." "Left clear." at 300ft
65s "Engine! Engine! No.2! No.2 Engine!" at 100ft

70s (Sound of impact)

The survivors reported three abnormal situations indicating an engine failure, which matched the description of eyewitnesses on the ground:

Abnormal vibration causing hand luggage to fall from overhead bins during the takeoff roll.
The feeling of slowing down and falling immediately after leaving the ground.
Engine bursting into flames.

The direct reason for the crash was an excessive nose-up attitude leading to a stall. The cause was determined to be one of the following by both sides (Japanese and Soviet investigating personnel):

The accidental deployment of the spoilers during takeoff by the copilot.
To deal with the asymmetric thrust of engines 1 and 2, the nose was inappropriately brought.
Furthermore, after inspecting the wreckage, it was found that despite winter conditions, the anti-ice device of the engines was not activated. Thus, it was possible that the engine thrust diminished due to ice buildup at the air intake.

Based on the above, the sequence of the entire accident could be presumed (but not determined) that:

During the takeoff roll, the copilot tampered with the ground spoiler lever, while saying "This is not fitting in smoothly", then forgot to reset it to the correct position. So, even though the ground spoiler is for use immediately after landing only, the plane had to take off with it extended, generating excessive drag and causing loss of lift .
After liftoff, the inappropriate nose-up input caused excessive pitch angle, which either further reduced the airflow into the ice-covered engine, which was already providing insufficient thrust, or caused the ice blocks built up on the front edge of the wing to be ingested by the engine.
As a result, the engine's compressor stalled, surged, and substantially lost thrust, leading the plane to stall.

There was a theory that the copilot mistook the ground spoiler lever as the landing gear lever, but it is only a theory.

Public reaction

The accident was attributed to pilot error, i.e. the co-pilot's lack of adequate attitude. The voice recorder recorded some of the captain's insensitive colloquial conversation, such as "Yeah(はいよ)" "Kay, Here we goin(やっこらさ)"^note. After reports containing the information above was released to the public, Japan Airlines drew much criticism, such as "our floppy flag carrier" from public media, and the problem was even presented before the Diet of Japan.

Apart from this accident, Japan Air Lines suffered several other incidents attributed to human error in the same year: Haneda Airport overrun incident (on May 15), New Delhi crash (on June 14), Gimpo Airport overrun incident (on September 7), Bombay Airport overrun incident (on September 24). As a result, the airline suffered harsh criticism from the public.

In the popular comic strip Sazae-san, Machiko Hasegawa made a sarcastic scene, referring to these accidents:

While preparing for a business trip, Namihei panicked when he heard Sazae and Wakame talking about "Nikkō 'falling' again", and rushed toward them.
But it turned out that the two was just watching the sunset. Relaxed, Namihei shouted "Please say 'Nikkō is descending' !"

(Nikkō is an abbreviation for "Nihon Kōkū"(Japan Airlines in Japanese). Nikkō is also the Japanese term for "sunlight". In Japanese, "the sunlight is falling" means "the sun is setting").

Aftermath

On DC-8s, spoilers are used after landing only (i.e. ground spoiler). Few methods can be used to reduce speed in flight (e.g. before landing), such as deploying the thrust reverser of inner engines on both port and starboard side. Other accidents attributed to accidental deployment of ground spoiler in flight have also occurred. As a result, modifications were done to make ground spoilers unable to deploy in flight altogether.

There are no emergency air brakes installed on DC-8s.

References

External links

Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)

Jan 7

Iberia Flight 602

Jan 21

Turkish Airlines DC-9 crash

Jan 26

JAT Yugoslav Flight 367

Feb 22

Lufthansa Flight 649

Mar 3

Mohawk Airlines Flight 405

Mar 14

Sterling Airways Flight 296

Mar 19

EgyptAir Flight 763

Apr 18

East African Airways Flight 720

May 5

Alitalia Flight 112

May 8

Sabena Flight 571

May 18

Aeroflot Flight 1491

May 30

Delta Air Lines Flight 9570

Jun 12

American Airlines Flight 96

Jun 14

Japan Air Lines Flight 471

Jun 15

Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z

Jun 18

British European Airways Flight 548

Jun 24

Prinair Flight 191

Jun 29

Lake Winnebago mid-air collision

Jul 2

Pan Am Flight 841

Jul 5

Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710

Jul 31

Delta Air Lines Flight 841

Aug 14

Königs Wusterhausen disaster

Aug 16

Burma Airways Thandwe crash

Aug 31

Aeroflot Flight 558

Sep 15

Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130

Sep 24

Japan Air Lines Flight 472

Sep 24

Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident

Oct 1

Aeroflot Flight 1036

Oct 13

Aeroflot Flight 217

Oct 13

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571

Oct 27

Air Inter Flight 696Y

Oct 29

Lufthansa Flight 615

Nov 10

Southern Airways Flight 49

Nov 15

Ansett Australia Flight 232

Nov 28

Japan Air Lines Flight 446

Dec 3

Spantax Flight 275

Dec 8

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708

Dec 8

United Air Lines Flight 553

Dec 8

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631

Dec 20

Chicago–O'Hare runway collision

Dec 23

Braathens Flight 239

Dec 29

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401

Dec 31

Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

1971 ◄ ► 1973

Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union

1930s	Osoaviakhim-1 SSSR-V6 Osoaviakhim
1940s	1948 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 crash
1950s	1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash LOT Polish Airlines Flight 232 1957 Kiev mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 04 1958 Aeroflot Tu-104 Kanash crash Aeroflot Flight 315 (1959) Aeroflot Flight 120 Aeroflot Flight 200
1960s	Aeroflot Flight 315 (1960) U-2 incident Aeroflot Flight 207 RB-47 shootdown incident Aeroflot Flight 036 Austrian Airlines Flight 901 Aeroflot Flight 068 Aeroflot Flight 245 Aeroflot Flight 902 Aeroflot Flight 415 Aeroflot Flight 213 (1962) Aeroflot Flight 191 Aeroflot Flight 03 Aeroflot Flight 25 Aeroflot Flight 012 Aeroflot Flight 366 Aeroflot Flight 663 Aeroflot Flight 721 Aeroflot Flight 101/X-20 Aeroflot Flight 542 Aeroflot Flight 513 Aeroflot Flight 99 Aeroflot Flight 065 Aeroflot Flight 2723 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1967) Aeroflot Flight 2230 Aeroflot Flight L-51 Aeroflot Flight 15 Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A 1969 Yukhnov mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight N-826
1970s	Aeroflot Flight U-45 Aeroflot Flight 1661 Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair Aeroflot Flight 3630 Aeroflot Flight 244 22 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash 31 January 1971 Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash Aeroflot Flight 1969 Aeroflot Flight 1912 Malév Flight 110 Aeroflot Flight 773 Aeroflot Flight N-63 Aeroflot Flight 2174 Aeroflot Flight 1491 Aeroflot Flight 558 Aeroflot Flight 1036 Aeroflot Flight 217 Japan Air Lines Flight 446 Aeroflot Flight 6263 Aeroflot Flight 141 Aeroflot Flight 630 Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 Aeroflot Flight 6551 Aeroflot Flight 109 Aeroflot Flight A-13 Aeroflot Flight 3932 Aeroflot Flight 964 Aeroflot Flight 19 Aeroflot Flight 2022 1974 Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash 1974 Surgut mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2003 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1976) Aeroflot Flight 909 Aeroflot Flight 1802 Aeroflot Flight A-53 Aeroflot Flight 418 1976 Anapa mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 2415 Aeroflot Flight N-36 Aeroflot Flight 3843 Aeroflot Flight 5003 (1977) 1977 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134 hijacking Aeroflot Flight B-2 Aeroflot Flight 6709 Korean Air Lines Flight 902 1978 Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash Iranian Chinook shootdown Aeroflot Flight 1080 Aeroflot Flight 1691 1979 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5484
1980s– Dec. 1991	Aeroflot Flight 4225 1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash Aeroflot Flight 498 1981 Armenia mid-air collision 1981 Zheleznogorsk mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 811 Aeroflot Flight 3603 Aeroflot Flight 8641 Aeroflot Flight 411 Aeroflot Flight 5463 Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Aeroflot Flight 601 Aeroflot Flight 3352 Aeroflot Flight 3519 Aeroflot Flight 7841 1985 Zolochiv mid-air collision Aeroflot Flight 5143 Aeroflot Flight 101/435 Aeroflot Flight 2306 Aeroflot Flight 6502 Aeroflot Flight U-505 Aeroflot Flight N-528 Aeroflot Flight 699 Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988) 1988 Soviet Air Force Il-76 crash An-24 crash in Navoiy Aeroflot Flight 8556

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History

JAL accidents and incidents	Flight 301 (1952) Flight 2 (1968) Flight 351 (1970) Flight 471 (1972) Flight 472 (1972) Flight 446 (1972) Flight 404 (1973) Food poisoning incident (1975) Flight 1045 (1977) Flight 715 (1977) Flight 472 (1977) Flight 350 (1982) Flight 792 (1982) Flight 123 (1985) Flight 1628 incident (1986) Flight 46E (1993) Flights 907 and 958 (2001) Flight 516 (2024)