All Nippon Airways Flight 58
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 30 July 1971 |
| Summary | Mid-air collision |
| Site | near Shizukuishi, Japan |
| Total injuries (non-fatal) | 1 |
| Total fatalities | 162 (all on board Flight 58) |
| Total survivors | 1 |
| First aircraft | |
_(7855381336).jpg) An ANA 727, sister-ship to the accident aircraft | |
| Type | Boeing 727-281 |
| Operator | All Nippon Airways |
| Registration | JA8329 |
| Flight origin | Sapporo-Chitose Airport (CTS/RJCC) |
| Destination | Tokyo-Haneda Airport (HND/RJTT) |
| Passengers | 155 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 0 |
| Fatalities | 162 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Second aircraft | |
 A JASDF F-86F on display at JASDF base Nara | |
| Type | Mitsubishi F-86F Sabre |
| Operator | JASDF |
| Registration | 92-7932 |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 1 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 1 |
All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 58 was a Boeing 727-281 airliner, JA8329, that collided with a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Mitsubishi F-86F Sabre, 92-7932, while en route from Chitose Airport in Sapporo to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Tokyo on 30 July 1971 at 2:04 local time.[1][2] All 162 of those on board the Boeing 727 died. The pilot and sole occupant of the F-86, a trainee with the JASDF, ejected from his aircraft shortly before the collision and survived. The collision occurred over Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture.
Description
Flight 58 departed Sapporo for a domestic flight to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) climbing to FL280. Meanwhile, a 22-year-old JASDF trainee, Yoshimi Ichikawa (市川良美 Ichikawa Yoshimi), and his instructor, Captain Tamotsu Kuma (隈太茂津 Kuma Tamotsu), were practicing air combat manoeuvres in their F-86 fighters. Ichikawa, who had not been watching for traffic, was instructed to break away from the 727 as it approached, but he could not avoid the accident. The leading edge of the F-86's right wing struck the left horizontal stabilizer of the Boeing 727, causing the airliner to enter a steep dive and disintegrate in mid-air, impacting near the town of Shizukuishi.[3] The wing of the F-86 broke off and the pilot ejected safely.
The two planes collided at 26,000 feet (7,900 m) over Morioka, in the northern part of the main Japanese island of Honshū, 275 miles north of Tokyo. The F-86 jet fighter plunged into a rice paddy, while the wreckage of the three-engine airliner was spread over a wide area.[2]
Most of the passengers came from Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture and were returning from a trip to Hokkaido.[3] Of the passengers, 125 were in a tour group made up of members of a society for relatives of Japanese servicemen killed in World War II.[4]
Saburo Kawanishi, 41, the pilot of the jetliner, had more than 8,000 hours of flying experience. He was able to get off a brief radio message between the time of the collision and the crash.
At the time, it was the deadliest air disaster in history.[3] The deadliest previous aviation toll was in the crash of Viasa Flight 742 on 16 March 1969, into a crowded section of Maracaibo, killing 155 — 84 on the plane and 71 on the ground.[3] The fatality total was eventually surpassed the next year by Aeroflot Flight 217, an Ilyushin Il-62 that crashed and killed 174.
References
- ↑ Sekigawa, Eiichiro, "Mitsubishi's Mentor... ...Supersonics from Nagoya", AIR International, April 1975, Volume 8, Number 4, page 172.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "161 Die In Worst Aviation Disaster", The Coshocton (Ohio) Tribune, July 30, 1971, page 1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 ""Disasters: The Worst Ever". TIME. 9 August 1971. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
- ↑ 朝日新聞1971年8月1日”Asahi Shinbun August 1, 1971”
External links
Coordinates: 39°41′N 140°59′E / 39.683°N 140.983°E
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