Passengers 166 Fatalities 24 Date 9 February 1982 Destination Haneda Airport Survivor 150 | Crew 8 Survivors 150 Number of deaths 24 Operator Japan Airlines Passenger count 166 | |
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Summary Deliberate crash by pilot Site Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan Similar All Nippon Airways Flight 60, Japan Airlines Flight 471, Japan Airlines Flight 446, LAM Mozambique Airlines Fl, SilkAir Flight 185 | ||
Japan Airlines Flight 350 (日本航空350便, Nihonkōkū 350 Bin) was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61, registered JA8061, on a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Fukuoka, Japan, to Tokyo. The airplane crashed 9 February 1982 on approach to Haneda Airport in Tokyo Bay, resulting in 24 fatalities. Flight 350 was Japan Airlines' first crash of the 1980s. The investigation traced the cause of the crash to the deliberate actions of the captain.
Flight
The crew consisted of 35-year-old Captain Seiji Katagiri (片桐 清二 Katagiri Seiji), 33-year-old First Officer Yoshifumi Ishikawa, and 48-year-old flight engineer Yoshimi Ozaki. The cause of the crash was traced to Katagiri's deliberate crashing the plane. One report was that he engaged the inboard engines' thrust-reversers in flight. Another report was that, during descent, Katagiri "cancelled autopilot, pushed his controls forward and retarded the throttles to idle." The first officer and Flight Engineer worked to restrain him and regain control. Despite their efforts, the DC-8's descent could not be completely checked, and it touched down in shallow water 300 meters (980 ft) short of the runway. During the crash, the cockpit section of the DC-8 separated from the rest of the fuselage, and continued to travel for several metres before coming to a halt.
Among the 166 passengers and eight crew, 24 died. Following the accident, Katagiri, one of the first people to take a rescue boat, told rescuers that he was an office worker, to avoid being identified as the captain. Katagiri was later found to be suffering from a mental illness prior to the incident, which resulted in a decision that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. Flight 350 was Japan Airlines' first crash of the 1980s.
Katagiri has since been released from psychiatric care and lives near Mount Fuji.
