The Fall of Flight 123

Aboard a Japanese passenger flight, a structural component fails - leaving the 524 passengers on it to plunge through the night sky.

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Cold Open
2:25 - Sponsor
3:52- Home
8:10 - Uncontrollable
14:27 - Aftermath
21:03- In the Wake of It All

The following content is for educational, documentary, and artistic purposes only.

[kitcat]

The fact they fought through 45 minutes straight of just attempting to control the plane and just in the end to hear them say this is the end is heart breaking to hear knowing they tried there hardest to gain control

[alaysiajoleece]

I’ve heard this story a few different times and the audio from the black box always gets to me. The sirens and their panicked voices trying to do all they can to save themselves and the passengers. It’s beyond heartbreaking

[ghostly]

"This is the end"
The final words from the captain will forever stick with me.

To all affected by this tragedy, my sympathy goes to you. A tragedy like this should have never happen to you and your loved ones. My thoughts and prayer are with you.

[SIXTYPROD]

Geezus looking at the picture of the splice plate made me sick the lack of common sense in the repair is staggering

[slanderous.j]

Those gentlemen flew the hell out of that aircraft with everything they had.

[dpr]

This case was the exact example why my field safety and disaster management trainer always reminded me to always assume, that people can survive and will be waiting for immediate help in case of an emergency, no matter how dire it may be. Calling off a rescue based on an assumption of "nah, nobody would survive that" is a grave insult to anyone who are trying their best to stay alive amidst a disaster.

[Firebringer]

"put down your cigarettes this is an emergency descent" Is such an 80's thing to hear on a doomed aircraft.

[meepmeep]

Nexpo did a great job at summarising this incident.
My father was one of the passengers on this flight for a business trip. Watching this makes me tear up for him, and for the loss of the 520 lives on board that day, and the 4 survivors who have gone through such a traumatic event.
I've spent most of my life studying and pursuing a career in aviation because I never want something like this to happen again. I've worked as both a plane maintenance worker, and am currently going through training to become a captain on the 737-type.
I've never once taken any shortcuts when attending to plane repairs/maintenance and have done everything exactly according to the standard procedures. This is something that all maintenance workers should do to avoid anything like this.

At my company, Flight 123 is one of the flights that is continuously referenced in inductions, in memory of the pilots and passengers and as a reminder for workers to do their job properly. What hasn't been pointed out in the video is that, against all odds, the crew all fought to the very end... they didn't show any signs of giving up. Their sheer will almost got them through this horrible incident and that's something I want to carry on on every single flight I'm in. They're probably one of the best few pilots I've ever known.

I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone has if you see this comment. Anything about my experience, technical details about the incident, or anything else.
I watch or read something about this flight like once every month, and each time I bawl my eyes out thinking about what they all must've felt going through this.

RIP Dad, Captain Takahama, Officer Sasaki, Flight Engineer Fukuda, and the other 516 lives lost that day.

[Kiran_Nath]

The flight conditions that JAL123 experienced that day were replicated in countless simulations in which cases the pilots didn't last more than a few minutes. The pilots and flight engineer of JAL123 on that day managed to last a whole 45 minutes, they were heroes that didn't stop fighting for their passengers until their very last moments. I also find it disgusting that the Japanese government essentially abandoned rescue efforts after the fact since they assumed everyone was dead on impact, wasting precious time that could have saved lives.

[Omegan]

One part of JAL 123's legacy that often goes overlooked is that a United Airlines pilot named Dennis Fitch began practicing re-creating the crash in the simulators in the hopes that he could find a way to land a plane safely in such a situation.

In 1989, Fitch was a passenger on United Flight 232 when the plane, a DC-10 with the third engine built into the tail structure, ended up losing hydraulics when the fanbelt of said engine suffered failure, resulting in a situation very similar to JAL 123. Fitch went up to the cockpit and assisted the flight crew with controls in their efforts to land the plane. Of the 296 people on board 184 survived. Without Fitch, and without JAL 123 to learn from, it almost certainly would have been worse.

[Infisrael]

It's one thing for the people who died from this tragedy because there were no rescuers, but for the employees to commit suicide to atone for their deaths is just bone chilling.

[raxidaydreams]

Imagine surviving a plane crash and waiting for rescuers that would never arrive. This is haunting

[Iron.Historian]

The 4 survivors reported initially hearing many other survivors whose voices eventually fell silent. Disgraceful delay on the rescue effort.

[TrashComments]

The fact that they were told to head back to the base, even though they were literally right there and ready to repel down, makes my blood boil

[feylezofriza]

It is heartwarming to know that Boeing still observes the same standards of quality assurance after all these years

[JuliaBeatriz-thol]

This is so tragic. Hearing them say "this is the end" is heartbreaking. Beautiful video though, I didn't know about this crash before. May the victims rest in peace.

[silverflight]

Flight 123 and Challenger are major examples of how a single oversight can lead to disaster. Had the tailstrike damage been properly repaired, the plane would have never found itself in the mountains 7 years later.

It's a miracle anyone survived the crash and following flames, may the victims rest in peace.

[YourLadyRose]

I can't believe they just let people burn in agony as they thought everyone would be dead. Arent, they meant to have a more optimistic response and try to see if they can save more. I can't imagine what it could have been like waiting for help that never came

[sodadrink]

if there’s any solace that you can find in this crash, it’s that this incident helped save the lives of over half the people on united flight 232. a dc10 lost all hydraulic control, and they were able to regain limited control of the plane because someone on board studied JAL flight 123 and knew planes could be controlled using only the engines

[tenej]

The fact that they had kept the plane flying for as long as they did really showed their skill. When they tried replicating it in the simulator, nobody lasted as long as they did. Really frightening really. They really tried anything to survive

Interesting fact about aviation, the first airplane to land without any sort of hydraulics was DHL Flight 209. They got shot with a missile and managed to land the Airbus A300 without any help from hydraulics. There's even footage from an infrared camera from a helicopter and tv coverage from the reporter that interacted with the terrorist group that launched the missile. When the plane landed, it did slightly deviate from the runway, but landed safely and all people (three flight crew) survived.