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Japan Air Lines Flight 350

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Japan Air Lines Flight 350
日本航空350便
Wreckage of JA8061
Occurrence
Date9 February 1982 (1982-02-09)
SummaryDeliberate crash by pilot
Site
Map
Aircraft

JA8061, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1981
Aircraft typeMcDonnell Douglas DC-8-61[1]
OperatorJapan Air Lines
IATA flight No.JL350
ICAO flight No.JAL350
Call signJAPAN AIR 350
RegistrationJA8061
Flight originFukuoka Airport
DestinationHaneda Airport
Occupants174
Passengers166
Crew8
Fatalities24
Injuries77
Survivors150

Japan Air Lines Flight 350 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, to Tokyo in Japan.[2] On 9 February 1982, the Douglas DC-8 operating the flight, registered JA8061, crashed into Tokyo Bay on approach to Haneda Airport, resulting in 24 fatalities.[3] Flight 350 was the first crash for Japan Air Lines in the 1980s.[4] The investigation traced the cause of the crash to the deliberate actions of the captain.

Background

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Aircraft

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The aircraft involved was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61 registered as JA8061. It was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in 1967 and in its 15 years of service, it had logged 36,955 airframe hours. It was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B engines.[2]

Crew

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In command of Flight 350 was 35-year-old Captain Seiji Katagiri (片桐 清二 Katagiri Seiji). He had joined Japan Airlines on October 1, 1969, and accumulated a total flight time of 5,698 hours at the time of the incident, of which 484 hours were flown as captain on the DC-8. He obtained his DC-8 captain's license on December 18, 1979.[5]: 20–23 

Katagiri's crewmates were 33-year-old First Officer Yoshifumi Ishikawa, and 48-year-old flight engineer Yoshimi Ozaki.[2] They had flown with Katagiri in the same aircraft involved in the accident on the previous day, 8 February 1982, operating as Flight 377 from Haneda to Fukuoka.[5]: 5 

Accident

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Another angle of the aircraft involved

Flight 350 took off at 07:34 from runway 16 at Fukuoka Airport. At 07:51, the flight leveled off and maintained its cruising altitude of 29,000 feet (8,800 m) until the cockpit crew began their descent on approach to Haneda Airport at 08:19. Flight 350 was cleared to enter the ILS approach to runway 33R, and the landing gear and flaps were configured for final approach by 08:41.[5]: 5–7  As the crew began their final approach, the cockpit voice recorder captured Captain Katagiri crying out loud, indicating his abnormal mental state.[6]

At 08:44, while Flight 350 was flying at an altitude of 164 feet (50 m) at a speed of 130 knots (240 km/h), Katagiri disengaged the autopilot. He then pushed the yoke forward and pulled the throttle back to idle[2] before engaging the thrust-reversers on the inboard engines.[1][5]: 7–8 [6] First Officer Ishikawa noticed Katagiri's actions and countered by pulling back the yoke on the co-pilot's side to regain control. Flight engineer Ozaki stood up from his seat and attempted to return the thrust reversers to the idle position while physically restraining Katagiri with a slap on the wrist.[5]: 7–8 [6][7][8]: 190  Despite their efforts, the DC-8's descent could not be fully arrested, and it crashed within seconds after the cockpit crew's struggle into shallow water 510 meters (1673 feet) short of runway 33R. The cockpit section of the DC-8 separated from the rest of the fuselage and continued to travel for several meters before coming to a halt.[2][5]: 7–8  The other half of the fuselage trailed behind and subsequently came to rest on top of the cockpit section.[5]: 7–8 

The cockpit crew survived the crash, albeit injured and, except for Ishikawa, knocked unconscious. Katagiri was awakened immediately after the crash by two flight attendants stationed at the front of the aircraft, while Ozaki remained unconscious for the next 40 minutes until rescued by a fishing boat. Upon seeing the resulting damage from the crash, Ishikawa reportedly yelled at Katagiri, prompting the latter to burst into tears as the flight attendants tried calming him down. The flight attendants in the rear cabin attempted to contact the cockpit before initiating the evacuation procedure upon realising that the cockpit had been separated from the rest of the fuselage and hence could not be contacted.[9]: 59 

Among the 166 passengers and 8 crew, 24 died. Following the incident, Katagiri, one of the first people to take a rescue boat, took off his tie and coat, then put on a cardigan to convince rescuers that he was an office worker and avoid being identified as the captain.[10] This led to initial police reports stating that Katagiri was among the casualties until he was located and identified in a nearby hotel, where he had his injuries treated, within hours after the crash.[6]

Investigation

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Mental health history of Seiji Katagiri

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Seiji Katagiri was later found to have paranoid schizophrenia[11] prior to the incident, which resulted in him being ruled not guilty by reason of insanity.[5]: 32-33 [12]

Investigators for the Japanese government traced Katagiri's mental history through testimonies from close associates. These testimonies revealed that Katagiri exhibited abnormal behavior and claimed to be hallucinating as early as 1976. Family members claimed he became less talkative around this time, while his colleagues at Japan Airlines raised suspicions of him suffering from neurosis prior to the Flight 350 incident. Later, his hallucinations became auditory in nature and increased in frequency to the point where he had to cancel flights. In November 1980, Katagiri's superiors at Japan Airlines temporarily removed him from flight duties after an incident where he deviated from the planned flight route and provided insufficient thrust inputs, causing him and his crew to delay turns and frequently initiate go-arounds.[8]: 176-181 

Following his temporary removal from flight duties, Katagiri underwent psychiatric counseling upon the recommendation of his superiors and was diagnosed with depression due to dysautonomia. He was ordered to have a mental health leave from work until April 1981, when he was allowed to resume flying, albeit as a co-pilot. Despite concerns from Katagiri's wife over his behavior remaining unchanged even while resuming his treatment after returning to work, the doctors treating Katagiri sent a letter to Japan Airlines on October 6, 1981, clearing him for reinstatement as a captain on the grounds that his condition was not observed to have disrupted his performance in the cockpit. Subsequently, Katagiri was reinstated as captain the following month, in November 1981.[8]: 176-181 [9]: 32-49 

Shortly before the incident, Katagiri vocally expressed paranoid delusions about Japan's political situation, believing that the Soviet Union was conspiring to divide Japan by splitting it into two factions and inciting wars between them. On the day he flew Flight 350, First Officer Ishikawa observed Katagiri in a "state of delusion",[13] trembling with fear while remarking that he would die rather than be captured and brutally killed by an "enemy". Katagiri's crewmates also noted that on the day before the crash, he exhibited erratic behavior during their flight from Haneda to Fukuoka and deviated from their flight plan by switching the right-hand engines to counterthrust. Katagiri's delusions, combined with a panic attack and the auditory illusion of hearing voices that Katagiri claimed were telling him to die, contributed to his decision to crash the aircraft.[8]: 188 [13]

Aftermath

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The investigators concluded that the incident was attributed to the auditory hallucinations that Katagiri experienced during the flight and the lack of proper medical examinations that allowed him to fly despite his ongoing mental condition.[11][14] Katagiri has since been released from psychiatric care.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 02091982
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ranter, Harro. "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Chen, P. Y. (15 February 1982). "The pilot of a Japan Air Lines DC-8 jet..." UPI. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "JAL's History - History of Company 1951s". Japan Airlines. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 58-3-JA8061 日本航空(株)所属 ダグラス DC-8-61型 JA8061 東京都東京国際空港 [58-3-JA8061 — Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. — Douglas DC-8-61 (Model JA8061) — Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Transport Safety Board. 16 May 1983. pp. 1–30. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Stokes, Henry Scott (14 February 1982). "Cockpit Fight Reported on Jet That Crashed in Tokyo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  7. ↑ Byrne, Gerry (27 March 2015). "The enemy within: rogue pilots pose dilemma for airlines". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Yamamoto, Yoshiaki (2001). 日本航空事故処理担当 [Japan Airlines Accident Investigation and Handling]. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-272064-7.
  9. 1 2 58-3-JA8061 日本航空(株)所属 ダグラス DC-8-61型 JA8061 東京都東京国際空港 [58-3-JA8061 — Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. — Douglas DC-8-61 (Model JA8061) — Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo] (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Transport Safety Board. 16 May 1983. pp. 31–63. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "Troubled Pilot". Time. 1 March 1982. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
  11. 1 2 Chen, P. Y. (17 May 1983). "JAL medics blamed for crash". United Press International. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Sinha, Shreeya (26 March 2015). "A History of Crashes Caused by Pilots' Intentional Acts". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2015. Seiji Katagiri, 35, the pilot of a Japan Air Lines DC-8 sent the plane into Tokyo Bay moments before it was to land on February 9, 1982, killing 24 of the 166 passengers on board. Katagiri, who survived the crash, was prosecuted, but he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He had a history of 'psychosomatic disorders' in late 1980, but airline doctors said he was fit for duty.
  13. 1 2 3 "The Suicidal Pilot Who Survived". Archived from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Vuorio, Alpo; Laukkala, Tanja; Pooshan, Navathe; Budowle, Bruce; Eyre, Anne; Sajantila, Antti (1 August 2015). "On doctors' accountability and flight deck safety". Croatian Medical Journal. 56 (4): 385–386. doi:10.3325/cmj.2015.56.385. ISSN 0353-9504. PMC 4576753. PMID 26321033.
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