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Japan Air Lines Flight 446
Accident
JA8040, the aircraft involved in the accident in July 1972.
Date	28 November 1972 (1972-11-28)
Summary	Aerodynamic stall due to pilot error
Site	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62
Operator	Japan Air Lines
Registration	JA8040
Flight origin	Copenhagen Airport, Copenhagen, Denmark
Stopover	Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
Destination	Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), Tokyo, Japan
Occupants	76
Passengers	62
Crew	14
Fatalities	62
Injuries	14
Survivors	14

Japan Air Lines Flight 446 was a Japan Air Lines flight from Sheremetyevo International Airport of Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan.

On November 28, 1972 the DC-8-62 on the route crashed during the initial climb phase upon takeoff from Sheremetyevo. While it is established by investigation that the direct reason for the crash was stalling shortly after takeoff, the Soviet Accident Investigation Committee noted the possibility of accidental deployment of the spoilers and reduced thrust due to engine problems as the cause for this accident.

Accident

On November 28, 1972, Japan Air Lines Flight 446, operated by JA8040 (a DC-8-62), departed from Copenhagen Airport in Denmark bound for Tokyo International Airport in Japan with an intermediate stop at Sheremetyevo International Airport. At 7:51 PM Moscow time (1:51 AM, Nov 29 for Tokyo time), the flight took off from Sheremetyevo, reached an altitude of 100 metres (330 ft), stalled, and crashed 150 metres (490 ft) beyond the runway end, 30 seconds after leaving the ground.

On board were 6 flight crew (3 of them backup crew), 7 cabin crew, 1 employee of Japan Air Lines, and 62 passengers (of whom 52 were Japanese). All except for 5 flight attendants and 9 passengers perished, which made 62 fatalities. All survivors were seated near first-class seats located in the front section of the fuselage, suffering severe injuries. Eight of the surviving passengers were Japanese; the other was E. Bruce Smith of New Zealand.

The aircraft involved, JA8040, was delivered in July 1969, and written off less than 3.5 years after its delivery, thus being the most short-lived among Japan Airlines' DC-8s. This aircraft was noted for previous involvement in several major incidents: with the nickname Hida, it was used to carry passengers involved in the hijack of Japan Air Lines Flight 351 back to Japan in April 1970; on November 6, 1972, 22 days before the crash, this plane was offered to the hijackers of the JA351 hijack in response to their demand to flee to Cuba, although they were ultimately arrested at Haneda Airport.

This was the second fatal accident within the same calendar year for Japan Air Lines, following Japan Air Lines Flight 471 in June.

Reason

The Soviet Accident Investigation Committee released (according to ICAO standard) the result of CVR and FDR data analysis.

CVR transcript:

00s (Takeoff roll begin)

10s "Time?" "Time is OK." "It's a bit slow..."
25s "Yes." "What?" "We are going."
30s "V1." at 129kt(IAS)
40s "Rotation." "Attention." at 145kt
45s "V2." at 154kt
50s (Mechanical sound)
55s "What's up?" "Spoiler!" at 350ft
60s "What's this?!" "Sorry..." "Left clear." at 300ft
65s "Engine! Engine! No.2! No.2 Engine!" at 100ft

70s (Sound of impact)

The survivors reported three abnormal situations indicating an engine failure, which matched the description of eyewitnesses on the ground:

Abnormal vibration causing hand luggage to fall from overhead bins during the takeoff roll.
The feeling of slowing down and falling immediately after leaving the ground.
Engine bursting into flames.

The direct reason for the crash was an excessive nose-up attitude leading to a stall. The cause was determined to be one of the following by both sides (Japanese and Soviet investigating personnel):

The accidental deployment of the spoilers during takeoff by the copilot.
To deal with the asymmetric thrust of engines 1 and 2, the nose was inappropriately brought.
Furthermore, after inspecting the wreckage, it was found that despite winter conditions, the anti-ice device of the engines was not activated. Thus, it was possible that the engine thrust diminished due to ice buildup at the air intake.

Based on the above, the sequence of the entire accident could be presumed (but not determined) that:

During the takeoff roll, the copilot tampered with the ground spoiler lever, while saying "This is not fitting in smoothly", then forgot to reset it to the correct position. So, even though the ground spoiler is for use immediately after landing only, the plane had to take off with it extended, generating excessive drag and causing loss of lift .
After liftoff, the inappropriate nose-up input caused excessive pitch angle, which either further reduced the airflow into the ice-covered engine, which was already providing insufficient thrust, or caused the ice blocks built up on the front edge of the wing to be ingested by the engine.
As a result, the engine's compressor stalled, surged, and substantially lost thrust, leading the plane to stall.

There was a theory that the copilot mistook the ground spoiler lever as the landing gear lever, but it is only a theory.

Public reaction

The accident was attributed to pilot error, i.e. the co-pilot's lack of adequate attitude. The voice recorder recorded some of the captain's insensitive colloquial conversation, such as "Yeah(はいよ)" "Kay, Here we goin(やっこらさ)". After reports containing the information above was released to the public, Japan Airlines drew much criticism, such as "our floppy flag carrier" from public media, and the problem was even presented before the Diet of Japan.

Apart from this accident, Japan Air Lines suffered several other incidents attributed to human error in the same year: Haneda Airport overrun incident (on May 15), New Delhi crash (on June 14), Gimpo Airport overrun incident (on September 7), Bombay Airport overrun incident (on September 24). As a result, the airline suffered harsh criticism from the public.

In the popular comic strip Sazae-san, Machiko Hasegawa made a sarcastic scene, referring to these accidents:

While preparing for a business trip, Namihei panicked when he heard Sazae and Wakame talking about "Nikkō 'falling' again", and rushed toward them.
But it turned out that the two was just watching the sunset. Relaxed, Namihei shouted "Please say 'Nikkō is descending' !"

(Nikkō is an abbreviation for "Nihon Kōkū"(Japan Airlines in Japanese). Nikkō is also the Japanese term for "sunlight". In Japanese, "the sunlight is falling" means "the sun is setting").

Aftermath

On DC-8s, spoilers are used after landing only (i.e. ground spoiler). Few methods can be used to reduce speed in flight (e.g. before landing), such as deploying the thrust reverser of inner engines on both port and starboard side. Other accidents attributed to accidental deployment of ground spoiler in flight have also occurred. As a result, modifications were done to make ground spoilers unable to deploy in flight altogether.

There are no emergency air brakes installed on DC-8s.

References

External links

Portals:

Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)
Jan 7 Iberia Flight 602Jan 21 Turkish Airlines DC-9 crashJan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367Feb 22 Lufthansa Flight 649Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763Apr 18 East African Airways Flight 720May 4 Aeroflot Flight B-608May 5 Alitalia Flight 112May 8 Sabena Flight 571May 16 Svetlogorsk An-24 crashMay 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96Jun 14 Japan Air Lines Flight 471Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZJun 18 British European Airways Flight 548Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collisionJul 2 Pan Am Flight 841Jul 5 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disasterAug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crashAug 31 Aeroflot Flight 558Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130Sep 24 Japan Air Lines Flight 472Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accidentOct 1 Aeroflot Flight 1036Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Oct 27 Air Inter Flight 696YOct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615Oct 30 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49Nov 15 Ansett Australia Flight 232Nov 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 446Dec 3 Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crashDec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708Dec 8 United Air Lines Flight 553Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collisionDec 23 Braathens Flight 239Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1971 ◄ ► 1973

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)

Jan 7 Iberia Flight 602Jan 21 Turkish Airlines DC-9 crashJan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367Feb 22 Lufthansa Flight 649Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763Apr 18 East African Airways Flight 720May 4 Aeroflot Flight B-608May 5 Alitalia Flight 112May 8 Sabena Flight 571May 16 Svetlogorsk An-24 crashMay 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96Jun 14 Japan Air Lines Flight 471Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZJun 18 British European Airways Flight 548Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collisionJul 2 Pan Am Flight 841Jul 5 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disasterAug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crashAug 31 Aeroflot Flight 558Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130Sep 24 Japan Air Lines Flight 472Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accidentOct 1 Aeroflot Flight 1036Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Oct 27 Air Inter Flight 696YOct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615Oct 30 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49Nov 15 Ansett Australia Flight 232Nov 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 446Dec 3 Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crashDec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708Dec 8 United Air Lines Flight 553Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collisionDec 23 Braathens Flight 239Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

1971 ◄ ► 1973

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the Soviet Union in the 1970s
1970	Batagay Aeroflot An-24 crash (28 January 1970) Aeroflot Flight 145 (29 January 1970) Aeroflot Flight U-45 (February 1970) Aeroflot Flight 1661 (April 1970) Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair (June 1970) Aeroflot Flight 3630 (September 1970) Aeroflot Flight 244 (October 1970)
1971	Surgut Aeroflot An-12 crash (22 January 1971) Surgut Aeroflot An-12 crash (31 January 1971) Aeroflot Flight 1969 (March 1971) Aeroflot Flight 1912 (July 1971) Malév Flight 110 (September 1971) Aeroflot Flight 773 (October 1971) Aeroflot Flight N-63 (November 1971) Aeroflot Flight 2174 (December 1971)
1972	Aeroflot Flight B-608 (4 May 1972) Svetlogorsk An-24 crash (16 May 1972) Aeroflot Flight 1491 (18 May 1972) Aeroflot Flight 558 (August 1972) Aeroflot Flight 1036 (1 October 1972) Aeroflot Flight 217 (13 October 1972) Japan Air Lines Flight 446 (November 1972)
1973	Aeroflot Flight 6263 (January 1973) Aeroflot Flight 630 (24 February 1973) Aeroflot Flight X-167 (28 February 1973) Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 307 (March 1973) Aeroflot Flight 2420 (April 1973) Aeroflot Flight 6551 (11 May 1973) Aeroflot Flight 109 (18 May 1973) Aeroflot Flight A-13 (August 1973) Aeroflot Flight 3932 (September 1973) Aeroflot Flight 964 (October 1973) Aeroflot Flight 19 (November 1973) Aeroflot Flight 2022 (December 1973)
1974	Aeroflot Flight H-75 (January 1974) Leningrad Aeroflot Il-18 crash (April 1974)
1975	Aeroflot Flight E-15 (July 1975) Aeroflot Flight 6274 (November 1975)
1976	Aeroflot Flight 2003 (January 1976) Aeroflot Flight 3739 (February 1976) Aeroflot Flight 909 (March 1976) Aeroflot Flight 1802 (May 1976) Anapa mid-air collision (September 1976) Aeroflot Flight 2415 (November 1976) Aeroflot Flight N-36 (December 1976)
1977	Aeroflot Flight 3843 (January 1977) Aeroflot Flight 5003 (February 1977) Tavda mid-air collision (May 1977) Aeroflot Tu-134 hijacking (10 July 1977) Aeroflot Flight B-2 (20 July 1977)
1978	Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (April 1978) Aeroflot Flight 6709 (19 May 1978) Yegoryevsk Tu-144 crash (23 May 1978) Iranian Chinook shootdown (June 1978) Aeroflot Flight 1080 (7 October 1978) Aeroflot Flight 6515 (23 October 1978)
1979	Aeroflot Flight 1691 (March 1979) Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision (11 August 1979) Aeroflot Flight 5484 (29 August 1979)
1960–1969 ◄ 1970–1979 ► 1980–1991

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JAL accidents and incidents	Flight 301 (1952) Flight 2 (1968) Flight 351 (1970) Flight 471 (1972) Flight 472 (1972) Flight 446 (1972) Flight 404 (1973) Food poisoning incident (1975) Flight 1045 (1977) Flight 715 (1977) Flight 472 (1977) Flight 350 (1982) Flight 792 (1982) Flight 123 (1985) Flight 1628 incident (1986) Flight 46E (1993) Flights 907 and 958 (2001) Flight 516 (2024)

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