Asoh defence
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 22, 1968 |
| Type | Pilot error |
| Site | San Francisco, California |
| Passengers | 96 |
| Crew | 11 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 107 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-8 |
| Operator | Japan Airlines |
| Tail number | JA8032 |
Captain Kohei Asoh piloted Japan Airlines flight 2 on the 22nd of November 1968. The DC-8 plane was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport but Asoh mistakenly landed the plane in the waters of San Francisco Bay, two and a half miles short of the runway [1][2]. None of the 96 passengers or 11 crew were hurt and the plane was eventually recovered and refurbished for service. Asoh had almost 9,800 hours of flight experience at the time of the accident[2].
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing was called to investigate the reasons behind the bizarre accident. Captain Asoh took the stand as first witness and supposedly said, in answer to why he had landed in the bay, "As you Americans say, I fucked up."[citation needed]
He took full responsibility for the accident and refused to blame anyone else or any other circumstances. Such a frank acceptance of blame has come to be known as the "Asoh Defence". It has been discussed in various books such "The Abilene Paradox" by Professor Jerry Harvey, publications [3] [4] and in company training films [5].
