Crashing into San Francisco Bay | Japan Air Lines Flight 2

[@kenjhee]

My father was one of the mechanics who helped repair the Shiga. They towed it to the United maintenance base under contract with JAL. He used to bring home salvaged parts that had contacted saltwater and had to be replaced. He might still have them. He also says that the first thing Capt. Asoh said after the water landing was, "Uhh, tower, San Francisco International appears to be covered with six feet of water, over."

[@tldev6156]

Asoh returned to flight duty with Japan Airlines after some ground schooling, and although he was demoted to First Officer, he continued flying freight until his retirement. Hazen also returned to aviation a few months later, and was promoted to Captain in May of 1969. In 1974, he upgraded to the Boeing 747, and continued to fly it until his retirement in 1994.

[@waynelast1685]

T Kool thanks

[@robbiemulholland6477]

I wonder if he flew a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong?

[@chrisj197438]

Robbie Mulholland I think there was some fake vomit with it

[@josephmclaren2789]

so glad you clarified that -thanks for the post

[@4thstooge75]

If anybody was killed in this mishap he probably would have committed hiri kiri .

[@MagnumMike44]

I'm glad everyone was able to walk away from that water landing. It's also incredible the DC-8 was repaired and put back into service for 33 years.

[@johnnyberetta9533]

That boat could float lol.

[@dgriffin6074]

It's so easy to make excuses for mistakes. I applaud Captain Asoh's frank, honest admission.

[@Skywalker8562]

You don't understand the Oriental mind. If an accident occurs, the company, the crew, the people on the ground that work for JAL all apologize to the passengers who survived.

[@dgriffin6074]

@@Skywalker8562 Thanks for reminding me.

[@chrisj197438]

Skywalker7897 Complete 180 from the American policy of lie and deny then pay off without any admission of guilt.

[@mrv1264]

@@Skywalker8562 The captain's "...I fucked up..." was not that kind of apology. It was testimony given to NTSB investigators. Normally, the executives "apologize," that is, put on a show. But then it's business as usual. And they're not fired, but rather continue to collect their salary. They do, however, expect someone beneath them to "fall on the sword" for them. Remember, in the Orient, nothing is at it appears to be. And, before anyone flames me, yes, I've worked in the Orient for years and years....

[@s.sestric9929]

It's been my experience that making a frank, honest admission like that just pisses off the higher authorities. They don't think that you're sorry unless you stammer out a lame excuse. No excuse=flippant response.

[@zippymax1]

Amazing story in every way: amazing everyone survived, amazing they repaired the plane, amazing it flew for 33 more years, amazing response by Azoh. Classy dude.

[@menosbbgirl]

Texas Jack you said it perfectly.

[@libertyliberal4349]

Dang, Capt Azoh was a real dude! Can we take a minute to appreciate that NOONE died AND you could use the plane again!

[@hyzercreek]

Peter Noone died? I thought Paul died.

[@samueltaylor4989]

Peter Noone is still alive! He does a radio show on ch. 6 SiriusXM!

[@davidfowler7040]

Yes, after a $4,000,000 repair bill.

[@davidtx8777]

He was lucky!

[@jubs0000]

I think he means no one died

[@MrCapi55]

Even when Captain Asoh admitted he ""F****d Up"" he performed The Right Reaction to avoid the Water Crash. Another cause of an accident that Thank God served to remark a failure (in training in this case) to avoid future fatalities accidents. Remarkable Ruggedness of the DC-8 - 62 which went back In service, for Another 33 Years!!!, Aside, Remarkable Photos of the Rescue of The ACTUAL DC-8!!! another "Extra Plus" of your videos Allec Joshua. Thank You.

[@TRASHoftheTITANS]

I like that response. At the end of the day, we're all human, and evidence shows that even the most highly trained and experienced pilots can make grievous errors (I'm looking at you AA 587 and AF 447). Fortunately this accident didn't result in any injury or death, but even if it had, the pilot couldn't possibly have blamed anything but his own (poor) judgement. To hold one's hands up and say: "OK, I fucked up" is infinitely more honest and admirable than trying to blame the aircraft, training, other people etc. for something that was totally within the pilot's control. I'm glad he was allowed to continue flying, not just for his virtue, but for his response to the situation that almost certainly saved the lives of his passengers.

[@herobo123456]

"The Right Reaction to avoid Water crash'' LOL he was trying to do a go around 200ft too late

[@johnnyberetta9533]

@@TRASHoftheTITANS Old saying in airline pilot circles, "Hey, good guys go down, too."

[@msnovtue]

Well, bonus points to the captain for honesty and acceptance of the blame....

[@tomb4568]

I worked for the cargo airline that took delivery of this DC-8 toward the end of it's life. Great airplane I remember the BOW was a tad bit higher than the other -62s we had. You'd never know looking at it that it was in the bay! I flew on it a few times way back when!

[@neoleomedia1676]

Nice that you had the chance to see this plane that went for a swim and lived to tell the tale!

[@tomb4568]

@@Mrfloydbryant Well not Mott The Hoople but I carry an old nickname for a long long time!

[@WilliamSmith-nm6wt]

No yoo deetint!

[@Clydle]

@William Smith stop acting like you know he didn't. He might have actually did it. So stop assuming.

[@tomb4568]

@@Clydle Thanks Koby! I certainly did work work there for 8 years at ILN. Rode quite a few YS-11's, DC-9s, DC-8's and a few Caravelle's early on! I did ride 808 the SFO JAL bird 2 times and several of the other 61's and 62's the 63's and 762s came along after I left the company! Good folks and good times!

[@boydmccollum692]

Sully: I landed in the Hudson. Asoh: Hold my sake.

[@38911bytefree]

No A320. No computers. Well, not wanting to ditch either LOL

[@winstonchurchill3597]

@@38911bytefree Computers didn't land that jet in the Hudson - just saying.

[@SilverBulletOBW]

Goddamn it I was gonna post that!

[@everettbruckerhoff6029]

And He didn't hurt the plane.

[@Dana_Danarosana]

Besides not having heard of this incident before, I'm going to have to say that my major "wow" factor comes from the fact that everyone survived AND they REPAIRED the aircraft!! I know Douglas made tough planes but holy s***!!!

[@therandomytchannel4318]

I was amazed too. That thing pretty much stayed intact! I also noticed that this DC8 was a turbofan powered 8, I kind of thought hitting the water like that, the engines would be ripped away.

[@theobserver4214]

Dana Danarosana Well, they did. The DC-10 was a real shitcan until they fixed it after Douglas already croaked

[@niceguy60]

@@theobserver4214 It was and still is a shit can to this day. So much of a shit can the DC-10 even takes out other planes with its shittyness, just ask the Concorde.

[@algrayson8965]

@@niceguy60- The DC-10 itself had nothing to do with the Concorde crash. The Concorde was overloaded with excess fuel and cargo, too much cargo toward the tail, took off with a tailwind, ran off the runway due to the left main gear truck being misaligned due to a missing axle spacer, causing the left main gear tires to hit the runway edge lights, attempted to lift off at insufficient airspeed for the overload and tailwind conditions, all before the tire ran over an incompetently fabricated and installed patch that fell off of the DC-10. The overfilled wing tank burst at its leading-edge wall due to no vapor space (fuel is incompressible; fuel vapor is very compressible) to absorb shock, fuel spilled into the #1 engine intake, causing the #1 engine to flame out. The fuel spray was ignited by a dangling wire loom in the left wheel well. Then the flight engineer shut the #2 engine off. Having full takeoff power on #3 and #4 plus damage to the flaperons on the left wing, reducing lift and causing it to stall, made it impossible for Captain Marty, who had ordered too much fuel and permitted too much cargo to be loaded, to control the airplane. The airport maintenance failed to inspect and to clear any debris from the runway, in violation of specific Concorde operating procedures which require runway inspection and clearing immediately before Concorde take-off and landing. The Concordes were notorious for bursting tires. There had been several incidents of blow-outs damaging wing underside skins. Due to the very high take-off and landing groundspeeds compared to subsonic airliners, the very high tire loading, the Concordes’ tires were sensitive to low pressure, excessively long take-off and landing rolls, hard landings. When you have an airplane that is limited to 7% of its take-off weight in payload (passengers and cargo), as compared to a typical subsonic airliner’s 25%, overloading and imbalancing can be a serious danger to aircraft stability. On excess fuel loading: standard practice is not to fill wing tanks completely. Part of trimming an airplane is achieved by pumping fuel from one tank to another. If tanks are brimming-over full this cannot be done until fuel has been burned off. The DC-10 cargo door latch problem was rectified early on. Unfortunately some customers-operators couldn't be bothered to replace the old latches with the new, such as Turkish, which suffered a cargo door latch failure two years after the new parts were made available and a recommendation was made by McDonnell-Douglas to all customers and operators. The engine loss failure was caused by gross negligence by a maintenance crew’s failure to follow manufacturer's instructions for engine R&R.

[@johnnyberetta9533]

I read a longtime commercial pilot say, on an online pilot's forum, that the DC 8 was a remarkably rugged aircraft, built like a tank.

[@JRobert111111]

Wow! What an amazing story! Nobody injured and the plane was repaired to live out a long service life. The pictures showing the plane being lifted from the water were so interesting. I love the quality, detail and overall smoothness and refinement of your videos. Thanks for taking the time and effort to make this video and looking forward to more!

[@jamesthompson3099]

I do remember this incident. The papers jokingly referred to Captain Asoh as "Captain of the Shiga Maru". Captain Asoh was demoted to First Officer and thoroughly retrained. He went on to finish his career with JAL as did First Officer Hazen.

[@copperman752]

I don't know any of the flight/piloting jargon but I was totally impressed with this incident. First, no one was injured; second, the aircraft was actually repaired and continued to fly from 1962 to 2001 (?) and third -- the aviation industry must have been a lot more forgiving back then. Captain Asoh was an incredible example to other pilots, I hope other pilots learned from his example of integrity. I'm glad he was somehow remembered in the aviation system for his admission of pilot error. These KZbins give me help in dealing with the crash I was in at O'Hare in 1972, I appreciate your posting this. Everyone survived that one also, but it was a much more dangerous landing. Thanks.

[@Digitallycloned]

One thing you can say about that plane is it had a full life.

[@Underappreciatedclassics]

1962? To 2001, pretty impressive

[@CRUISOMATIC]

Should have been preserved and put on display in a museum ...

[@trijetz3562]

@@CRUISOMATIC the airplane flights ARE the display and museum.

[@monkey-trial...6578]

Full OF life too!

[@alexp3752]

What did you expect, the aircraft was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company...

[@celinesoosai]

I am a Dr but an aviation buff, been following you for more than a year now. Your vids are great. 33 minutes after uploading I am watching n it amazes me to see the number of requests you have. Stay blessed n regards from Malaysia

[@hawaiisurfski3602]

Not every plane goes swimming and flies on to tell the tale. It should have been put in a museum.

[@jmc428]

It's always a good story when everyone survives - respect to the captain for shouldering the blame, not many people made like that these days.

[@alexp3752]

To the Japanese honor means everything... I wish Chinese "Chow Meiners" had the same philosophy.

[@검은바탕흰글씨]

Well, at least everyone survived. And wow, they repaired the aircraft at a crazy cost, rather than writing it off?!

[@alphafoxtrot787]

That's something you probably wouldn't see much :o

[@m.d.5463]

I think that was a matter of honor!

[@workingguy-OU812]

Yeah. I don't know how much a new DC-8-2 was back then though. Had to be close to that 4-mil cost I'd guess.

[@stevencramsie9172]

It's just water.

[@TheOmega13a]

@@stevencramsie9172 Its actually salt water. Can cause corrosion. I think the reason why the plane was repaired rather then written off was it was a DC-8. Not as much electronic systems as a more modern jet.

[@eugenelayton5231]

As a boy I remember going to the beach near there and seeing the plane held up by floats for a couple of days before it was removed. What a sight to see. Fortunately everyone made it out of there safely.

[@rongants6082]

The Japanese pilot was born in 1922. Apparently he was a flight instructor in the military in WW2. The pilots admitted that they did not know how to fly the plane. But they were hired to fly passengers across the Pacific. Unbelievable.

[@algrayson8965]

Major fault was a management failure. Sending pilots out with inadequate training, so inadequate that multiple personnel recognize that the training is inadequate, lays primary responsibility on management.

[@herobo123456]

ya and not doing a fucking go- around at DA

[@johnnyberetta9533]

Inadequate training ? I'll say. When Captain Asoh was first training at Osaka, his plane only had a cheap Made in Hong Kong compass and a small transistor radio...(just kidding) Hey Most Honourablr 1st Officer Tanaka, what's this VOR bullshit ? LOL.

[@Pooneil1984]

Nice follow on story. Another good example of lessons learned. Thanks, Allec.

[@MichaelBrown-ny3et]

At 2:36 the Altimeter was still at 29.92, instead of new altimeter setting. It’s amazing how intact airframe was after it was pulled out of the water.

[@erode.5101]

So glad that everyone on board survived this incident! But a sad thing is that the aircraft slammed into the water due to pilot error... Great recreation, fantastic even

[@gregpeterson7849]

I was on the staff of the San Francisco Chronicle at the time, and I shot a picture of the aircraft interior the day after this happened. What a mess!

[@BsUJeTs]

I use to work for UAL in SFO overhaul. DC8s were one of the most rugged aircraft I’ve ever worked on. Old but reliable, with the right flight crews on board.

[@steveturner3999]

I remember when this happened as when I was a kid I was (as am now) fascinated by all things aviation. I still after all these years cannot believe the lack of outward structural damage this plane displayed. I know it was horribly expensive to repair but to see it lifted in one piece and set on a barge? Wow!

[@hellosunshine1090]

What a great story Alec. Too much tech too soon for these pilots to master. I was totally confused as you gave the steps for ILS and was saying to myself, dang how can they keep it all straight then boom "in the drink" they go ! This was long ago. I was 4 when it occurred. Sure it made all the newspapers. I was an early reader but not that early ! Thx for the great history lesson.

[@lindadavies6109]

Excellent and informative video Allec, thank you for all the hard work you put in. Greetings from South Africa 🇿🇦

[@lindadavies6109]

@@patrickshenton769 I have no idea. I don't watch movies

[@lindadavies6109]

Hi Carol

[@menosbbgirl]

I LOVE it when everyone survives!!!! Such glorious words to read lol!💕💕💕

[@Jen-X333]

Thank you for another great video and please keep doing these older ones.

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

Yikes. Crew and pax were incredibly fortunate. The part about the Sperry Flight System eerily reminds me of the Boeing MAX8.

[@watershed44]

@gomphrena -beautiful flower- Yes it does, this was a very timely video by Alec, I wonder if the MCAS disasters was on his mind when he chose this incident?

[@gomphrena-beautifulflower-8043]

watershed44 • Good question!

[@ShroomKeppie]

Interesting that the pilots didn't blame the Sperry Flight System, but their lack of training on it. The Boeing MCAS flew 41,000 cycles and over 100,000 hours without a crash before a couple of sketchy crews, one with a 400-hour copilot, planted two aircraft into terrain, and got an entire fleet grounded.

[@southpakrules]

Huge difference. They knew about the Sperry system, albeit poorly trained. MCAS functions on the other hand was a top secret.

[@hellkell8693]

It was the Sperry Flight Director system. Two different systems entirely. Nothing similar to the two other accidents.

[@paulantonio740]

On Sundays our grandfather would drive us from San Francisco to San Mateo for lunch at great-grandmother's house. The drives down 101 were always uneventful but one Sunday morning there it was -- a 4-engine jet airliner floating in the Bay. Even though I was only 3 years old, I remember that image like it was yesterday. Thanks for the video.

[@yogeshsh2575]

We can't ignore the fact that everyone survived the unintentional water landing!

[@B3Band]

Who the fuck is ignoring it? It's mentioned in every other comment!

[@breesco]

Another fine, instructive video. Well done!

[@JM-pz6bh]

I grew up near the airport and my mom talked of this crash a couple of times but until now I didn’t know for sure if was real. I am relieved that everyone survived and the plane was put back into service. Thanks for posting this.

[@a3bilbaneo842]

Could you do the 2002 China Airlines 611 crash? A 747 that lost its entire empennage due to damage from a tailstrike 22 years before. Quite similar to JAl123.

[@LipeLipe-mr7ww]

I'm saying lamia flight 2933

[@a3bilbaneo842]

Lipe123 Lipe123 i think that one has already been reconstructed in fs by 3 aviation accidents youtubers. Nobody did ci611

[@LipeLipe-mr7ww]

@@a3bilbaneo842 lamia 2933 do that

[@LipeLipe-mr7ww]

Turkish airlines flight.6491 January 2017

[@LizFromDecencyUnited]

It's astounding they were able to ditch in the Bay, with everyone surviving, not to mention being able to salvage the aircraft! For an 'I fucked up' situation, the outcome was miraculous!

[@watershed44]

@Allec Joshua Ibay What happened to Captain Asho after this accident? Did he ever continue to fly? Thanks for your work friend!

[@PapiDoesIt]

Same thing I was wondering. It seems he would be cleared to fly again after more training with the Sperry system.

[@TheOmega13a]

@@PapiDoesIt If I recall, he was allowed to fly again but not as a Captain.

[@douglasburnside]

They spent $4,000,000 educating him -- they're not going to fire him after that!

[@watershed44]

@Brandon Amaro Thanks for replying. Can you cite the source?

[@watershed44]

@Douglas Burnside Well what is the back story if you know it?

[@richardferguson5516]

I was working at SFO for Western Airlines part time while attending the College of San Mateo. Heavy fog that day. From the campus there is a great view of the airport but not where the DC-8 plane landed 2.5 miles short in 10 feet of water. I originally thought the Captain had later committed suicide, but that was not true. It took just 2-3 days to remove the plane and the DC-8 get those potential corrosive Magnesium alloyed wheel out of the reactive salt water ASAP and she (DC-8) returned to service Months later.

[@davepatrick4103]

Many years ago. Back in the 70s I was in a Hyatt hotel overlooking the SF bay and my dad told this story and now you have made a video on it. That’s so kool

[@johnderfler5183]

2 1/2 miles short of the runway. I'm no pilot, but that seems to me to be a big miss.

[@TheOmega13a]

I'm a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and it seems like every time SFO does a drill for a plane crash, they choose some variation this scenario. It should be noted this crash ended as well as it did because the plane was properly configured for landing and San Francisco Bay is shallow in that area. The crash also happened at low tide so it was really shallow at the time. The plane didn't float or sink. It was just resting on the mud.

[@bobstewart8032]

Thank God everyone survived. The plane looked relatively intact.

[@Martmns]

Amazing and fortuitous that everyone survived! Even more amazing was the fact that the plane was salvaged, repaired and went on to fly for another 33 years!

[@skatedonut952]

It’s great hearing everyone survived something that was probably horrifying. I’m glad everyone made it through this

[@shizzler7176]

Water must have just been smooth as glass. An unplanned water landing and the plane is not even a writeoff, had it had floats there would probably not have even been damage. Incredible.

[@randallking775]

I think SF bay was just the right depth where they landed. I think the baggage compartment was filled with water, so all of the luggage was a loss and JAL had to reimburse the passengers for the lost luggage.

[@richdiddens4059]

My dad was playing golf about 250 yards away when this happened. I was in high school about a mile away. We both remembered the weather as being very hazy with patchy fog. Where it landed was 10 feet deep at high tide and about 4 at low tide.

[@patriciamariemitchel]

Everyone survived! This crew did by accident what Sully did on purpose; plus, saved the plane! Pulling up when they did allowed them to hit the water at the perfect angle for sure! Incredible!

[@theobserver4214]

6:09 that’s a hard landing on water. Miracle they survived and the aircraft apparently survived well enough to be repaired

[@haysfordays]

Who else finds the history of the surviving planes to be one of the more fascinating aspects of these?

[@BlueWingsEditsOfficial]

The fact I was spelling Japan flight 123 on google but accidentally just typed in 2 and saw this💀

[@JoshuasPHXAviation]

I would say to this crash, Miracle On the San Francisco bay.

[@Dunkaroos248]

Not a miracle. Sully is a hero because he intentionally landed in the Hudson, saving everyone’s lives. This captain fucked up so hard it’s amazingly lucky that he didn’t kill everyone on the plane. He dishonored his family and country terribly and I’m surprised he didn’t commit suicide to save face.

[@dunamoose3446]

@@Dunkaroos248 bruh then its even more of a miracle

[@canis582]

@@dunamoose3446 bruh, this is like telling the Hulkamaniacs that Andre was slammed in Mexico

[@Maplelust]

miracle? NO.

[@katjafuchs3829]

All of your videos are heartbreaking but that one when the pilot sayed..."here we go.. ." was the saddest of all...thank you for your work. .(sorry for my bad english)

[@andyrichardsvideovlogs8835]

Very good. These older incidents are much more interesting if harder to research 👍👍👍

[@colincampbell3679]

It be helpful if the videos had the wording in a black screen wide box at the bottom 1/8th of the video as trying to read white writing sometimes id hard when the video picture backgrounds are often white? thanks.

[@skinsfan4101]

First video of yours that I could find humorous!

[@invertedreality4473]

Why didn't they go around when they didn't have the runway in sight at MDA?

[@davef.2811]

Management pressure.

[@a.walters123]

It’s an absolute miracle that the aircraft did not break apart upon impact, and that everyone survived. This is maybe one of a handful of successful water landings ever.

[@WMAcadet]

No miracle. The DC-8 is the strongest airframe I have ever flown, and I've flown many. High rate descents are made with reverse thrust on the inboard engines.

[@matismf]

It is good to see that Captain Asoh was honest!

[@clarsach29]

I imagine being told that delaying his turn was delaying other traffic did not help Capt. Asoh's stress levels at this critical juncture in the flight....rare to hear ATCs reproving a crew

[@CaseyFinSF]

I was 11 when that happened but don't recall hearing about it on the news probably because everyone survived...lucky day for everyone. It was also just one of many things going on in San Francisco and other places in that historic year.

[@guntherultraboltnovacrunch5248]

Absolutely astonished at the lack of damage to this beast of an aircraft after ditching in the ocean. Amazed further that this plane WAS REPAIRED and flew into the next century!

[@rogerbivins9144]

You absolutely have no choice but to give respect to this pilot. Right there in the thick of the chaos, and probably while still in a foreign (to him) country, and being interrogated by foreigners, A man stands up, squares the burden on himself with zero excuse. From this bit of information, it would seem his real negligence, along with apparently every other Japan Airline pilot, was failing to insist on sufficient training to feel / become proficient in the AP systems, but, "I fucked up", in this scenario, almost has an artistic ring to it.

[@hectorzambrano4092]

Good thing this DC-8 had a second chance before it's death in 2001.

[@jackrainbow560]

a real Asoh of a landing

[@barefooboy17]

I was 2 years old at the time of this crash and we lived in San Bruno which is right next to SFO. My parents remembered the day when this happened and my dad among others drove down by the bay to see the plane sitting in the water and also witnessed the crane pulling the plane out.

[@alainrheault6579]

Excellent video, as usual !!!

[@GEU1164]

Can you do the 1994 Fairchild AFB B-52 Crash video please?

[@indridcold8433]

The captain may had made a mistake. But he admitted it and said the flight director system was confusing and made him uneasy. This prompted Japan Airlines to improve training. The captain made a big difference in the future simply by admitting fault and saying he was confused with the system. Who knows what may have happened after this crash if the captain made up some story that it was not his fault. Perhaps the captain spared other captains from a worse fate than his own. I rather admire his honesty.

[@sc-cg2wh]

What happened to the flight crew? Did they keep on flying?

[@chrisj197438]

sc4400 I doubt it. The Japanese are sensitive about things like that. The shame probably had the pilots on the brink of suicide afterwards.

[@warboyrb]

Asoh was apparently demoted to 1st Officer, retrained and then continued flying. That's according to the Wiki article on the crash.

[@Texans9517]

Japan government executed the pilots and their families.

[@JostVanWair]

@@Texans9517 Wait what? If it was literally almost any other country, they'd give him a sentence in jail, a warning or a temporary suspension, but they got executed?

[@Rodgerball]

I was a DC-8 captain for Emery Worldwide Airlines from 1988 to 1999. Richard (Dick) Fahning was my flight engineer on numerous occasions and his son Frank related this story to me. One evening on a layover, over an adult beverage, Dick, who was normally quite laconic, related this story to me. He said that the Captain never looked outside while the first officer was unsure about what he saw just before they impacted the water This was also a time before CRM (cockpit resource management), where the captain's word was god, law and final. Dick says that he looked out the forward windshield and saw SF bay coming up toward them and instantly reached up and shoved all 4 thrust levers (throttles) forward, but that it was too late and all that happened was that the plane's pitch attitude went from 2 degrees nose down to 3 or so degrees nose up. As luck would have it, that was what was needed for a perfect water touchdown ala Sully. Dick said that the captain committed suicide a year or so after the accident. Dick was a true pro and had forgotten more than most pilots will ever know about the DC-8 and flying in general. His son Frank still resides in Northern California and was also an Air Force flight engineer at Travis AFB and later at Emery also on the DC-8.

[@michaelsaxton1606]

Dick Fahning was my next door neighbor in Newark Ca and a great friend before he retired from flying and moved up to the ‘Gold Country’ above Sacramento. He confirmed this story exactly as you state it. It was his firewalling the throttles that caused the aircraft to flair enough so that it could settle into the mud flats and not rip the gear off . It was that flair that kept the aircraft in one piece.

[@Maloyo]

What a fascinating story and great video. Scary that the crew (and other JAL crews) had no idea how to use this system and that this only became known after an incident. Could have been a real tragedy. Glad it wasn't.

[@madmike7720]

JAL Flight 2 celebrates for saving everyone.... While JAL Flight 350 is still crying

[@jenniferreeves6613]

Every one survived wow god bless their hearts

[@macman975]

"I was Captain Asoh's flight instructor" ~ TK Kirkland

[@thereallincolntakanashi]

Can you do the 2002 Uberlingen mid-air collision next? Or the 2007 Phoenix news helicopter collision?

[@Antoine7881]

That Phoenix crash sends a chill down my spine

[@kirilmihaylov1934]

@@Antoine7881 what happened

[@thereallincolntakanashi]

@@kirilmihaylov1934 Clues in the name, comrade. 😊

[@kirilmihaylov1934]

@@thereallincolntakanashi I am not Russian mate... You didn't answer

[@thereallincolntakanashi]

@@kirilmihaylov1934 *(in the strongest British accent known to man):* The 2007 Phoenix News Helicopter collision is the collision of 2 Eurocopters over Steele Indian School Park in Arizona. Stations involved were KNXV and KTVK. Does this answer your question, m8? 😊

[@mdwilliams79]

Hi Allec, could you do a video on the Uruguayan soccer team's plane crash in the Andes mountains (Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571) in the 1972? I've done some reading about the particulars of the flight and it's an excellent example of pilot error, flying in clouded conditions, lesser technology, etc. Thanks for the great videos!

[@gerryvandepol8666]

Will Mike ...check out the movie Alive... if you haven’t already... 2 thumbs up

[@radudeATL]

Love your videos, they are so well done. I know you have a winning formula here, but have you considered doing voice overs to along with your text?

[@michaelfiller3452]

Another well produced and interesting video. My only critique would be, because the title gave away the outcome, as I was watching I paid attention to the instruments, particularly altimeter. The pilots were given an altimeter setting of 30.31, but in every shot of the instrument the device was set to 29.92. I don't know if it is possible in the simulation software to adjust it. Since there were close ups several times on the altimeter I noticed the discrepancy. Otherwise a very good production. Thanks.

[@norcaldeemichaels]

Next time I make a mistake at work & an explanation is demanded, my reply will be “I defer to the Asoh Defense”

[@Heart2HeartBooks]

Plane crashed into the ocean..all survive...even the plan! Went on for many more years of flying. And what is more amazing is that the engines were at full thrust when they hit the water....Sturdy plane!

[@motorTranz]

Great story. Thanks.

[@KenPryor]

Great video! I didn't know about this crash.

[@TheGospelQuartetParadise]

The title of this article is misleading. While it would appear to be crashing, it was actually what was classified in today's terms "controlled flight into terrain." The fact was the plane was on final a couple of miles from runway. Coyote Point used to have my favorite landmark there - a Benihana restaurant. The water directly off Coyote point is usually only around 4 feet deep, but on this day the Bay had a higher than normal high Tide, and the water was around 7 feet deep. In fact, the plane suffered minor structural damage, and was in the water for 55 hours, which is probably the reason it cost 4 million dollars to repair it. I remember when it happened, and witnesses had said that it looked like a perfect water landing. Sorry Capt. Sully. I don't think anyone even got their feet wet. The other significant accident as SFO was Asiana Airlines flight 214 in 2013, when Capt We Tu Slo and his crew crashed a 777 onto runway 28L on a clear day. resulting in 3 deaths and 187 injuries, with a quarter of those serious.

[@TheRimeOfTheAncientMariner]

Incredible no one died and the plane returned to service!

[@youneverknow1316]

I remember my mom taking my brother and I to Coyote Point to see the plane. It was an odd sight-seeing the plane sitting in the SF Bay.

[@GroomLeader]

Looks like they repaired it well, considering that it had a long and trouble free service after being splashed. As crash landings go, this is one of the better ones. Everyone walks away, and the DC 8 is repaired.

[@dibjr]

How come the flaps are down at 13,000 feet, 2:00 into the video?

[@streptomagma]

Dear Allec, 30 January 1975 ( Flight 345 ) and 19 September 1976 ( Flight 452 ) - Turkish Airlines crash animations are definitely - have to create by you...

[@howierader8917]

Excellent vid...

[@tonyn331]

I seem to recall this accident. At the time, The San Francisco Chronical said that JAL Flight #2 had locked on to an old piece of submerged radar that for some unknown reason, had been discarded into SF bay instead of being destroyed properly. Amazing how time destroys the truth.

[@Kevin_747]

When used properly the Sperry Flight Director was as accurate as anything out there. In the 90's I trained a lot of younger pilots on the DC8 that were coming from nicer equipment. The Sperry was quite a challenge for them.

[@astrodiver1]

This one was interesting!

[@cav8000]

Hey Allec, can you do some videos on some of the Russian Aeroflot disasters from the 60s, 70s, and 80s? There's a TON of these to choose from. When Aeroflot crashed an airplane, there were typically no survivors. I will never understand how this company stayed in business at that time and why people kept boarding their planes.

[@minakoa7178]

This flight is still around today. I flew on it recently.

[@Peter78730]

The flight or the aircraft itself?

[@minakoa7178]

P Fulton the flight

[@michaelnunn5916]

Some commenters compared this accident with the Sully story, but the fact that the JAL plane went in the drink without loss of life or serious injury is the only similarity between the two. Sully's situation was an emergency ditch while gliding under no power. Asoh's water "landing" was under full power while attempting last-second to avert a ditch. Despite a failure to properly utilize the Sperry ILS guidance system, Capt. Asoh's attempt to regain altitude with his command to pull up under full throttle may have been the one and only thing that prevented the DC-8 from doing a somersault in the water with catastrophic results, as the aircraft happened to be in a perfect nose-up position on contact. The aft part of the fuselage and the landing gear almost certainly would have contacted the water first, significantly slowing the plane before the engine nacelles and underwing surfaces flopped down on the surface, keeping the nose from digging in: A textbook "dead-stick" landing. I wonder what the decelerative g-forces would have been on the JAL passengers and crew, who I am sure were totally unaware they were going to crash.

[@johnny5805]

So effectively, Captain Asoh was Sully before Sully was Sully ! He landed even more perfectly ! He didn't even lose a wheel, or an engine. Even Wikipedia says "None of the 96 passengers or 11 crew were injured in the landing."

[@Katelyst]

"As you Americans say, I fucked up." Respect. It's a bad feeling when you know your actions either directly caused or contributed to an accident of that magnitude, so for him to be so frank about it, he certainly has my respect.