Summary Japan Airlines has promised to change its safety culture following an accident in 1985, when 520 people passed away after a Boeing 747-100 disintegrated mid-air. In April 2006, the carrier opened a Safety Promotion Center to advocate safety inside the company's culture. Unfortunately, in 2024, the airline's Airbus A350-900 was involved in a fatal collision at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND).
However, no flight crew members or passengers onboard Japan Airlines' A350-900 died during the incident. Japan Airlines is one of the safest airlines in the world, with the carrier aiming to establish a very strong safety culture. Accidents involving Japan Airlines, Japan Air Commuter, and Spring Airlines Japan aircraft since 2008 (per The Aviation Herald data, marked as accidents and not incidents) 18 (including two incidents related to the Boeing 787 battery fires in early 2013 ) Despite its involvement in an unfortunate accident at Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) in January 2024, which resulted in fatalities on the other, Japanese Coast Guard aircraft, no passengers or flight crew were harmed onboard the Airbus A350-900, registered as JA13XJ.
The widebody aircraft, which burned down to ashes, was written off immediately after the accident. Nevertheless, Japan Airlines began actively improving its safety culture following an incident in 1985, when 520 people died after a Boeing 747-100 broke apart mid-air, becoming the deadliest accident in the history of aviation that involved a single aircraft. An oxygen mask believed to be from Japan Airlines flight 123 was recently unearthed.
Safety Promotion Center In light of the incident, and in the face “of the pain and grief of the bereaved families and public distrust in airline safety, we pledged that we would never again allow such a tragic accident to occur.” As a result, Japan Airlines opened the Safety Promotion Center on April 24, 2006, in order to affirm the importance of safety and embed the lessons learned from the 1985 accident in the airline’s employees’ minds. “JAL Group positions the Safety Promotion Center as its 'Fortress of Safety' and the starting point of safe and reliable operations.
Every staff is reminded that valuable lives and property are entrusted to us in our work.” The Safety Promotion Center has two rooms, one of which was a library, where the history of aviation is featured. There, people and the airline’s employees could familiarize themselves with the safety improvements incorporated following accidents and a panel describing actual cases of severe accident mitigation.
A number of factors ensured the evacuation was a success. The display room The second room was the display room, where various items from the Japan Airlines flight JL123 accident, when the Boeing 747-100, registered as JA8119, crashed relatively near Tokyo, Japan, claiming the lives of 520 people. Only four passengers had survived the accident and managed to hold on until rescuers arrived at the scene.
“Exhibits aircraft debris including the aft pressure bulkhead, the malfunction regarded as the main cause of the JAL123 accident, the aft fuselage wreckage, cockpit voice recorder, passengers' personal belongings, newspaper reports, and photographs of the crash site.” Speaking about the incident, Japan Airlines said that 12 minutes after taking off, there was a booming noise just before the aircraft reached its cruise altitude of 24,000 feet (7,315 meters). The aft pressure bulkhead had ruptured, resulting in the pressurized air in the cabin blowing out into the aft fuselage, and the auxiliary power unit (APU) and parts of the tail cone broke off the aircraft.
At the same time, four hydraulic systems were severed, resulting in the loss of control of the flight control surfaces. After the aircraft had spent 32 minutes in the air flying with a severe Dutch roll and phugoid motions, it crashed into the south ridge of Mount Osutaka. “The JA8119 aircraft experienced a tail strike on the runway during a landing at Itami Airport seven years prior to the accident.
The repair work by Boeing was faulty when they spliced the lower half of the aft pressure bulkhead to the upper half. This resulted in a formation of many small fatigue cracks originating from joint, which had gradually extended over the subsequent seven years.” Thus, the cracks had spread, connecting with each other, and this flight was when the pressure difference between the cabin and the fuselage aft of the bulkhead increased, resulting in a violent breakup of the bulkhead, creating a massive hole in the fuselage.
Four passengers miraculously survived the deadliest single-aircraft crash in aviation history. CEO’s message on safety In April 2024, Japan Airlines issued a message from Mitsuko Tottori, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the carrier. Tottori, who has had a long career at Japan Airlines, began her message by reflecting on the Noto Peninsula earthquake and the A350-900 accident at HND, which were heartbreaking.
“We pray for the souls of the victims and express our deepest sympathies to everyone involved. I would like to reaffirm our strong desire to protect our customers at all times while keeping in mind the preciousness and importance of life. We are committed to flight safety with an unshakable belief that it is the responsibility of an airline company.
” She added that when she joined Japan Airlines as a flight attendant in 1985, the JL123 incident followed shortly after, with the shock sticking with her to this day. Tottori noted that as someone who experienced the accident, she has felt a strong responsibility to pass on the importance of flight safety to the next generation. “Safety is a prerequisite for the existence of the JAL Group, and will constantly be our mission.
Based on the solid safety culture we have cultivated over the years, we will develop each and every one of our human resources, our last fortress of safety, and all of us will work together to protect safety.” Tottori’s career at Japan Airlines has developed as follows: Position From Senior Director of Cabin Attendants Office II, Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) Cabin Attendants I May 2015 Vice President of NRT Cabin Attendants II Department May 2016 Vice President of Cabin Safety Promotion Department April 2019 Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of the Cabin Attendants Division April 2020 Managing Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of the Cabin Attendants Division April 2022 Senior Managing Executive Officer, Senior Vice President of Customer Experience Division in charge of Brand Communication April 2023 Chief Customer Officer (CCO) June 2023 CEO of Japan Airlines April 2024 to now Japan Airlines' new President initially joined the airline in 1985, successfully climbing the corporate ladder since..
