This is a haunting saga, brilliantly told, about the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines flight in the mountains of remote Gunma that claimed 521 lives. It is a gripping tale that explores what happened and why while probing the human tragedies that have unfolded since that fateful day. At the footer of each page is a running list of the names and ages of the victims, a constant reminder of the people whose lives ended in the twilight of Aug. 12 as the plane spun out of control despite the pilots' desperate efforts. Christopher Hood also draws our attention to some of the larger lessons of the crash, suggesting parallels to subsequent flawed disaster responses. While disaster buffs will find this a rewarding read, I think that anyone interested in Japan will learn a great deal about how people collectively and individually cope with death, from how it is reported, how it is mourned and commemorated, to efforts at healing the traumatic aftershocks that disrupt lives and families, and the cold calculus of compensation.
There are various theories about why the crash occurred, but it appears that the main factor was a faulty repair in 1978 of a rear bulkhead that had been damaged in a bad landing. Investigators believe that over time the repairs to this rear bulkhead of this workhorse Boeing 747, including a welded section, weakened and on JL 123 pressurized air from the cabin blew through a hole that developed in this bulkhead into the rear tail section, causing the rear stabilizer to break off and severing the hydraulic pipes. The loss of hydraulics was catastrophic, leading to the pilots' losing control of the airplane.
Between the rupture in the bulkhead and the crash into a mountainside, 32 minutes elapsed when passengers knew this was a serious emergency as the plane rolled and dipped upwards and downwards and they donned oxygen masks. A few passengers wrote down their last thoughts, one took photographs in the cabin that were later recovered while the four survivors recounted a terrifying ordeal in those final minutes. We also read chilling excerpts from the cockpit recorder as the pilots tried to regain control.