The aircraft flight plan calling for a southbound departure from Haneda via the island of Izu Ōshima, then on airway JG6 to Hong Kong at flight level 310. The Boeing was commanded by captain Bernard Dobson, 45, from Dorset, described as a very experienced 707 pilot who had been flying the type since 1960. At 13:42 the crew contacted air traffic control requesting permission to start the engines, and amending their clearance request to a visual meteorological conditions climb westbound via the Fuji-Rebel-Kushimoto waypoints, which would take them nearer to Mount Fuji, possibly to give the passengers a better view of the landmark. The aircraft began taxiing at 13:50 and took off into the northwest wind at 13:58. After takeoff, the aircraft made a continuous climbing right turn over Tokyo Bay, and rolled out on a southwest heading, passing north of Odawara. It then turned right again toward the mountain, flying over Gotemba on a heading of approximately 298°, at an indicated airspeed of 320 to 370 knots, and an altitude of approximately 4,900 m , well above the 3,776 m mountain peak. The aircraft then encountered strong turbulence, causing it to break up in flight and crash into a forest.
Investigation
The aircraft left a debris field long. Analysis of the location of wreckage allowed the accident investigators to determine that the vertical stabiliser attachment to the fuselage failed first. It left paint marks indicating that it broke off the port sidehorizontal stabiliser as it departed to the left and down. A short time later, the ventral fin and all four engine pylons failed due to a leftward over-stress, shortly followed by the remainder of the empennage. The aircraft then entered a flat spin, with the forward fuselage section and the outer starboard wing breaking off shortly before impact with the ground. An 8 mm film exposed by one of the passengers was recovered from the wreckage. It showed pictures of the Tanzawa Mountains and Lake Yamanaka, followed by two empty frames and then apparently images of the aircraft's interior, before ending abruptly. Tests suggested that the two empty frames may have been the result of structural loads of up to 7.5 g momentarily jamming the camera's feeding mechanism. Although some stress cracking was found in the vertical stabiliser bolt holes, it was determined by subsequent testing that it did not contribute to the structural failure. Still, it was potentially a significant flight safety issue. Subsequent inspections on Boeing 707 and similar Boeing 720 aircraft as a result of this discovery did reveal this was a common problem, and corrective maintenance actions on the fleet eventually followed. One day after the crash, speculation was that fierce winds above Mount Fuji were responsible. The New York Times reported: "Despite these reports of a fire and explosion aviation experts said that adverse wind conditions around the volcanic cone about south of Tokyo may have caused the crash. The vicinity of the -foot peak is notorious for tricky air currents. Technicians in New York said that a condition could exist where turbulent air could have caused the aircraft to undergo a drastic manoeuvre that might lead to a crash. Such violent forces, they said, might have caused an engine to disintegrate, possibly setting fire to the wing or fuselage." The investigation report concluded that "the aircraft suddenly encountered abnormally severe turbulence over Gotemba City which imposed a gust load considerably in excess of the design limit." It also stated "it is not unreasonable to assume that, on the day of the accident, powerful mountain waves existed in the lee of Mt Fuji, as in the case of mountain waves formed by extended ridges, and that the breakdown of the waves resulted in small-scale turbulence, the intensity of which might have become severe or extreme in a short period of time."
Surrounding circumstances
This accident was one of five fatal aircraft disasters—four commercial and one military—in Japan in 1966 and occurred less than 24 hours after Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 crashed and burned on landing at Haneda. Flight 911 had taxied past the still smouldering wreckage of Flight 402 immediately before taking off for the last time. The victims included a group of 75 Americans associated with the Thermo King company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a two-week company-sponsored tour of Japan and Southeast Asia. There were 26 couples travelling together in the group, and a total of 63 children were orphaned as a result of the accident. Several booked passengers cancelled their tickets at the last moment to see a ninja demonstration. These passengers, Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, Ken Adam, Lewis Gilbert, and Freddie Young, were in Japan scouting locations for the fifth James Bond film, You Only Live Twice.
