Japan Airlines Flight 350


Japan Airlines Flight 350 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 the first crash for Japan Airlines in 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, 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." Ishikawa and Ozaki worked to restrain Katagiri and regain control. Despite their efforts, the DC-8's descent could not be completely checked, and it touched down in shallow water 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 the first crash for Japan Airlines in the 1980s.
Katagiri has since been released from psychiatric care and lives near Mount Fuji.