Families mark 40th anniv. of 1985 JAL jet crash, wish for no repeat
Relatives of those who died in the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident climbed a steep mountain trail from the morning to mourn their loved ones at the Osutaka Ridge crash site in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo.
The commemorative pilgrimage to the 1,565-meter crash site by families and others close to the victims has been held every year, including during the coronavirus pandemic when events were scaled back. The climb has become increasingly challenging for relatives as they age.
A memorial ceremony will be held at the foot of the mountain in the village of Ueno at 6:56 p.m., the exact time of the impact.
On Aug. 12, 1985, JAL Flight 123, en route from Tokyo to Osaka, crashed nearly 45 minutes after takeoff, leaving only four survivors among the 524 passengers and crew aboard.
Many of the passengers on the Boeing 747 were traveling to their hometowns during Japan's Bon summer holiday season. The dead included singer Kyu Sakamoto, known for his smash-hit song "Sukiyaki."
The Japanese government's official investigation report, released in 1987, blamed the accident on faulty repairs conducted by Boeing Co. on the plane's rear pressure bulkhead. The bulkhead ruptured during the flight, blowing off the aircraft's vertical stabilizer and destroying its hydraulic systems.
As memories fade, JAL has promoted safety awareness through a center that displays the fractured bulkhead and other wreckage as well as actual notes and photos of the last messages written by those who were on board. Its employees also visit the crash site when they are newly recruited and at other times during their careers.
JAL was hailed for its successful evacuation of hundreds of passengers from a burning plane that collided with a coast guard aircraft on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport in January 2024. But it has also seen a series of scandals regarding pilots' alcohol consumption in recent years.
According to Japan's transportation accident investigation board, no passengers have died in accidents caused by Japanese carriers that offer regular flight services since the 1985 JAL accident.
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Forty years ago, Japan experienced one of the worst plane crashes in history. On Aug. 12, 1985, a Japan Airlines plane crashed into the mountains of southern Gunma Prefecture, claiming the lives of 520 people who were on board Flight 123. There were only four survivors. A Japanese government investigation has concluded that the accident was likely caused by faulty repairs done by Boeing, the maker of the aircraft. But over the past several years, a controversial theory that claims the Japanese government and the Self-Defense Forces were involved in the crash seems to have gained more attention. Books advocating such a theory — which critics refute as a conspiracy theory — have become bestsellers, and online videos on the topic have been viewed numerous times. For Toshiya Okabe, a former SDF officer who was part of the search-and-rescue team on the ground a day after the JAL plane crashed, the situation can no longer be ignored. Speculation of the SDF's involvement in the crash had actually been around for decades, but he never paid much attention to it until recently. 'I thought no one would really believe it,' he said. 'It's absurd.' To counter such claims, Okabe, who went on to serve as Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, formed a group last year with other retired SDF members and their supporters. 'As former members of the SDF, we simply cannot accept the situation because it's a matter of the honor of the SDF,' he said. When Okabe visited the crash site at Osutaka Ridge last year, he was greeted by a new memorial cenotaph that claimed the SDF may have been involved — a shocking sight that made him worry it could spread misunderstanding among visitors. The Self-Defense Forces shift through debris of the Japan Airlines aircraft that crashed into Osutaka Ridge, northwest of Tokyo, on Aug. 12, 1985, killing 520 of the 524 people onboard on their flight from Tokyo to Osaka. | REUTERS The small cenotaph was set up in 2023 by one of the victim's family members, who had doubts about the government's investigation into the crash, according to a book by Toko Aoyama, a former JAL employee and author of several books on the crash and the possible involvement of the SDF. Some of Aoyama's books made it to the School Library Association's recommended reading list, further fueling Okabe's concerns. 'Children have no knowledge of the accident,' Okabe said. 'They can be indoctrinated with the narrative that the SDF were to blame. This is deeply problematic.' How people gather information has changed significantly, with social media and online videos becoming a primary source of information for young people, Okabe said, adding that videos touting conspiracy theories tend to go viral. Questions have long been raised about what really caused the accident. During the Bon festival period on Aug. 12, 1985, JAL Flight 123 took off from Haneda Airport in Tokyo at 6:12 p.m., bound for Osaka's Itami Airport, carrying 509 passengers and 15 crew members. When the plane reached around 24,000 feet (7,315 meters) after about 12 minutes, the rear pressure bulkhead is thought to have ruptured. The pressure bulkhead separates pressurized and unpressurized sections so that a stable pressure is maintained in the cabin to create a comfortable setting for passengers. The investigation panel believes this subsequently caused a large part of the vertical stabilizer to break off while all four hydraulic lines were severed. This caused the plane to go out of control, crashing into Osutaka Ridge and killing 520 of the 524 people onboard. Toshiya Okabe in an interview earlier this month | KAZUAKI NAGATA In 1987, the panel said the rupture was caused by Boeing's improper repairs on the pressure bulkhead after the jumbo jet experienced a tail strike while it was landing at Itami Airport several years earlier. Yet, rather than using definitive language to describe the cause of the crash, the panel said the Boeing's faulty fixes were the 'estimated' cause — opening the door to controversial theories about the 'real' cause of the crash. A window-seat picture taken by one of the victims showed a small black speck in the air. The photograph, which came from a recovered camera film, was theorized as being a flying object, possibly a missile or unmanned aerial vehicle that mistakenly hit the tail fin of the JAL plane. In the 1990s, one theory was that the SDF's Matsuyuki destroyer was in Sagami Bay for a trial run and may have fired a missile that mistakenly hit the JAL plane. Those who believe in the SDF's involvement point to multiple eyewitness accounts on the day of the crash, which they say the government investigation panel didn't look into. In her books, Aoyama introduces witnesses who say they saw a red flying object in the area where the jumbo jet was flying and another who apparently saw an orange oval-shaped object stuck to the aircraft. There were also people in her books who claimed to have seen Phantom jets, or F-4 fighter jets, flying near the jumbo jet before it crashed. A firefighter who was at the crash site also told Aoyama that they could smell gasoline and tar — an oddity, since jumbo jet fuel is made of kerosene, she says in her books. Gel fuel could have caused the smell of gasoline and tar, Aoyama says, and as the substance is used in flamethrowers, the SDF may have burned evidence that indicated the jumbo jet was hit by a missile, she adds. One reason such theories are gaining followers is a lack of trust among some bereaved families who say the investigation panel left too many loose ends untied in the 1980s. Parts of the JAL airplane's wreckage, such as the vertical stabilizer, sank into Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture, but the investigation committee didn't recover them. In 2015, TV Asahi conducted a search in Sagami Bay and discovered what appeared to be wreckage of the jumbo jet, but even that failed to move the government to recover the sunken aircraft from the sea. A group headed by a bereaved family member was founded in 2020 calling for the wreckage to be salvaged. The Convention on International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. organization that Japan is a part of, says: 'If, after the investigation has been closed, new and significant evidence becomes available, the State which conducted the investigation shall reopen it.' Seeking more information related to the crash, such as data from the cockpit voice recorder, a member of the bereaved family group filed a lawsuit against JAL in 2021, but the court dismissed the claim. Former Self-Defense Forces officers participate in a symposium last month in Tokyo. | KAZUAKI NAGATA While some family members are frustrated that the case has remained closed, former SDF officials, in contrast, are frustrated by the spread of 'conspiracy theories.' Then-Upper House lawmaker Masahisa Sato, a former SDF officer, brought up the matter in April during a parliament committee session and asked Defense Minister Gen Nakatani what the ministry thinks about these claims. 'The SDF had absolutely nothing to do with the crash,' Nakatani said, adding that the claims are 'false information.' Aoyama protested against Sato online, saying such an action from a politician is a severe infringement on the right of freedom of expression. On July 28, Okabe's group held a symposium with several former SDF officials who argued against theories claiming the SDF were involved. Former officials who were on Matsuyuki said the ship was moored in Tokyo Bay, not in Sagami Bay, on the day of the crash. They said the vessel was still being outfitted at the time and did not carry missiles. Two pilots who flew Phantom jets after the JAL plane lost control said they did not shoot the plane. They also said that the locations cited by the eyewitness accounts didn't match their flight path, saying they might have seen U.S. Phantom jets. As for the SDF shooting the jumbo jet down and using flamethrowers in the aftermath to burn the evidence — it would be impossible to use such weapons without a record due to the SDF's strict weapon management system, Okabe and others said. 'People might say the SDF engaged in a cover-up on an institutional level, but having served in the SDF myself, I know that's not possible,' Okabe said. 'Such an incident would be a huge problem, and it's simply not realistic to think that the SDF can keep the lid on all of it.'
