Japan Air Lines Flight 471

Japan Air Lines Flight 471
JA8012, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1970 in a previous livery
Accident
Date14 June 1972
SummaryCause disputed
Site
Total fatalities90
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas DC-8-53
Aircraft nameAkan
OperatorJapan Air Lines
IATA flight No.JL471
ICAO flight No.JAL471
Call signJAPAN AIR 471
RegistrationJA8012
Flight originTokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
1st stopoverKai Tak International Airport, British Hong Kong
2nd stopoverDon Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
3rd stopoverPalam International Airport, New Delhi, India
4th stopoverCairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
5th stopoverLeonardo da Vinci International Airport, Rome, Italy
Last stopoverFrankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, West Germany
DestinationHeathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom
Occupants89
Passengers78
Crew11
Fatalities86
Injuries3
Survivors3
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities4

Japan Air Lines Flight 471 was a Japan Air Lines international flight from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India. On 14 June 1972 the Douglas DC-8 operating the flight, registered JA8012, crashed short of the New Delhi airport, killing 86 of the 89 occupants: 10 of 11 crew members, and 76 of 78 passengers. Four people on the ground were also killed.[1]

Passengers

Sixteen of the dead were Americans.[2] Brazilian actress Leila Diniz was also among those killed,[3] as was the sole Indian passenger on the flight,[4] Dr. K.K.P. Narasinga Rao, a senior official of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

An article in The Age stated the following nationalities: 17 from Victoria, 10 from the United States, from each from Italy and Sweden, three from West Germany, two each from France and Indonesia, and one each from Brazil, India, the Netherlands, and Norway. 31 travellers had booked their travel from Australia or New Zealand.[5]

One of the cabin attendants killed in the crash was the sister of San'yūtei Enraku V.[6]

Sequence of events

The flight was on the Bangkok-New Delhi portion of its Tokyo-London route when the accident occurred. The flight took off from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok at 11:21 UTC en route to New Delhi. At 14:43 UTC, the flight was given clearance for a straight-in ILS approach to runway 28. The plane crashed into the banks of the Yamuna River not long after the 23 mile (43 km) report from the DME.[7]

Cause

The exact cause of the accident remains disputed. Investigators representing Japan pointed to the possibility of a false glide path signal causing the crash. Indian investigators claimed the crash was caused by pilot error, specifically the captain ignoring instrument indications and not having sight of the runway (the first officer was flying the approach to New Delhi).[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Ranter, Harro. "14 JUN 1972 Douglas DC-8-53 Japan Air Lines – JAL". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Death Toll in Air Disasters Heavy". Oshkosh Northwestern. United Press International. June 15, 1972. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Nearly 200 die in Asian air crashes". The Bryan Times. June 15, 1972. Retrieved February 11, 2020 – via Google News.
  4. ↑ Indian Express edition of 14 06 1972
  5. ↑ "82 down in second air tragedy". The Age. Melbourne. June 16, 1972. pp. 1, 4 – via Newspapers.com. - The JAL coverage having the nationality breakdown is on page 4.
  6. ↑ "円楽さん不慮の死をとげた妹と易行院に" [Mr. Enraku and his sister who died unexpectedly at Ikkyoin]. nikkansports.com (in Japanese). November 1, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Accidents JAL has caused other than Flight 123 Accident". Japan Airlines. Retrieved December 2, 2016.

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.