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Japan Air System Flight 451 was a Japan Air System
flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
from Nagoya Airport in the
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area of
Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
to
New Chitose Airport is an international airport located south-southeast of Chitose, Hokkaidō, Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By both traffic and land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō. It is adjacent ...
in
Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
,
Hokkaido Prefecture is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...
, with a stopover at Hanamaki Airport in Hanamaki,
Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...
. On April 18, 1993, the Douglas DC-9-41 operating the flight crashed while landing at Hanamaki Airport. The aircraft was written off but all 72 passengers and 5 crew survived.


Background


Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41 registered as JA8448. It was manufactured in the United States in 1978 and registered in Japan in September of the same year. The DC-9-41 aircraft was one of 22 planes introduced by Toa Domestic Airlines (later Japan Air System) between 1974 and 1979 for domestic local routes.


Crew

The captain on board flight 451 was a 51 year old male with 16,106 flight hours, of which, 8,468 were on the DC-9. The first officer was 27, with 380 of his 615 flight hours on the DC-9.


Accident

On April 18, 1993, JA8448 departed from New Chitose Airport and flew to Hanamaki Airport, then Nagoya Airport, as part of Flight JAS 451. The flight plan indicated that it was supposed to fly back to New Chitose from Hanamaki. The aircraft suddenly lost a significant amount of airspeed as it crossed the boundary line of a passing
cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...
, and encountered resultant windshear while on final approach. The somewhat inexperienced first officer was not able to conduct a
missed approach Missed approach is a procedure followed by a pilot when an instrument approach cannot be completed to a full-stop landing. Initiation A missed approach may be either initiated by the pilot or instructed by air traffic control (ATC). The instru ...
fast enough to avoid a
hard landing A hard landing occurs when an aircraft or spacecraft hits the ground with a greater vertical speed and force than in a normal landing. The terms ''hard landing'' and ''firm landing'' are often confused though are inherently different. A hard la ...
. The plane impacted the runway with such force that the gear was estimated to suffer up to +6G. causing it to puncture the fuel tank and cause a fire. All 72 passengers and five crew members survived, with 19 people sustaining injuries. The aircraft caught fire as the passengers evacuated; it was destroyed and written off.


Investigation

The investigation launched almost immediately after the accident by the JTSB. It lasted approximately 10 months, ruling that pilot error and windshear was the cause of the accident. It was found that when the aircraft reached 300 ft, the wind suddenly changed and began to sink fast, causing the aircraft's warning system to announce a "Sink rate!" warning, which means that the aircraft is descending at least 100 ft below the recommended descent rate. The resulting impact with the runway caused the landing gear root to go up into the wing, puncturing the fuel tank, and igniting, leading to the fire. The aircraft subsequently skidded off the runway and eventually stopped while burning. The survival of everyone on board was credited to the fact that the evacuation was conducted quickly and without stop. The pilots were faulted by the fact that they failed to initiate a go-around until it was too late. The probable cause of the accident was written as follows:
It was determined that the aircraft encountered windshear on short final with wind from 240° to 320° gusting 26 to 47 knots. The co-pilot, who was at controls at this time was not sufficiently experienced according to the operator operational procedures. Poor supervision on part of the captain and a too late recovery were considered as contributing factors.


References


External links

* {{Aviation incidents and accidents in 1993 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1993 Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Japan Air System accidents and incidents April 1993 in Japan