Japan Airlines Flight 715
Japan Airlines Flight 715 (日本航空 715便, Nihonkōkū 715 Bin) was an airplane that crashed in Malaysia on 27 September 1977. It was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, registration JA8051, on a flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, to Singapore International Airport in Singapore, with stopovers at Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong, and Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia. Ten crew and 69 passengers were on board. It was the second-deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Malaysia at the time.[1]
 JA8051, the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | 27 September 1977 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | Near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Malaysia |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-8 |
| Operator | Japan Airlines |
| Registration | JA8051 |
| Flight origin | Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1st stopover | Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong |
| Last stopover | Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Malaysia |
| Destination | Singapore International Airport, Singapore |
| Passengers | 69 |
| Crew | 10 |
| Fatalities | 34 |
| Injuries | 45 |
| Survivors | 45 |
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was a Douglas DC-8-62H (serial number 46152 and factory 550), released in 1971, and delivered to Japan Airlines on 23 August. It was registered as JA8051. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B turbofan engines.[2]
Accident
Two hours into the flight, air traffic control at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport told flight 715 to start its approach and land on runway 15. The flight crew started their approach, putting the landing gear down and extending the flaps. The aircraft descended below minimum descent altitude of 750 ft, then at 300 ft, it crashed into the side of a hill 4 miles from the airport, near an estate called Ladang Elmina. The aircraft broke on impact, with no fire.
The accident killed 34 people: eight of the 10 crew and 26 of the 69 passengers. Forty-five survivors, among the passengers and crew, were taken to a hospital. The remains from the crash could be found in the soil surrounding the estate until 2011. Most of the land now is being converted to developments.[3]
A memorial was built in the Japanese cemetery in Malaysia.[4]
The crash was the second-deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Malaysia until the crash of Malaysian Airline System Flight 653, two months later, with 100 fatalities.[1]
Investigation
The Malaysian Civil Aviation Bureau investigated the accident. At the time of the crash, the weather around the airport was poor and the aircraft was on a VOR approach. The investigation determined that the cause of the accident was the captain descending below the minimum descent altitude without having the runway in sight, and continuing the descent, causing the aircraft to crash before reaching the airport. The flight crew loss of sight of the airport due to bad weather, which also contributed to the accident. In addition, the first officer did not challenge the captain for violating the regulations.[3]
Notes
References
- Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62H JA8051 Kuala Lumpur Subang International Airport (KUL)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- "JA8051 Japan Airlines Douglas DC-8-62H - cn 46152 / ln 550". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- "Accidents JAL has caused other than Flight 123 Accident". JAPAN AIRLINES Corporate Information. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
- "マレーシア日本人墓地を訪ねて" [Visit a Japanese cemetery in Malaysia]. www.eva.hi-ho.ne.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 September 2019.
External links
- Entry at Aviation-Safety.net
- Memorial of the crash site (in Japanese)