UENO — 1985 · Major Tragedy
The JAL 123 Disaster — Mount Osutaka
On 12 August 1985, Japan Airlines Flight 123, a Boeing 747 flying from Tokyo Haneda to Osaka, suffered sudden decompression and the loss of its vertical stabiliser about 12 minutes after take-off, leaving it largely uncontrollable. After a struggle by the pilots lasting more than half an hour, the aircraft crashed into rugged terrain near Mount Osutaka in Gunma Prefecture. Fully booked on the eve of the Obon holiday, the plane carried 524 people, of whom 520 died and four survived. Investigators traced the failure to a faulty repair of the rear pressure bulkhead following an earlier tail strike. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history and is commemorated every year.
- Date
- 1985
- Place
- Gunma Prefecture, Japan, Ueno, JP
- Category
- Major Tragedy
- Case Status
- Closed
- Coordinates
- 36.0540, 138.6960 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 12 August 1985The aircraft left Haneda; decompression occurred 12 minutes later.
- 12 August 1985The aircraft crashed near Mount Osutaka in the evening.
- 13 August 1985Rescuers reached the site and found four survivors.
- 1987The official report identified a faulty repair as the root cause.
- 12 August 2026Victims were remembered on the 41st anniversary.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Japan Air Lines Flight 123 en.wikipedia.org ↗
- Nippon.com — Japan's Deadliest Air Disaster nippon.com ↗
- The Japan Times — JAL crash victims mourned 41 years after japantimes.co.jp ↗
- Wikipedia (EN)
- Nippon.com
- The Japan Times
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.