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Find sources: "Japan Air Lines Flight 715" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) | Japan Air Lines Flight 715 日本航空クアラルンプール墜落事故 JA8051, the aircraft involved in the accident Occurrence Date| 27 September 1977 Summary| Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error Site| Near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Malaysia Aircraft Aircraft type| McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62H Operator| Japan Air Lines Registration| JA8051 Flight origin| Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan 1st stopover| Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong Last stopover| Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Malaysia Destination| Singapore International Airport, Singapore Passengers| 69 Crew| 10 Fatalities| 34 Injuries| 45 Survivors| 45 Japan Air Lines Flight 715 (日本航空 715便, Nihonkōkū 715 Bin) was an airplane that crashed in Malaysia on 27 September 1977.[1][2] It was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, registration JA8051, on a flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, to Singapore International Airport in Singapore, with stopovers at Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong, and Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia. Ten crew and 69 passengers were on board.[1] It was the second-deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Malaysia at the time.[1] ## Contents * 1 Aircraft * 2 Accident * 3 Investigation * 4 References * 5 External links ## Aircraft[edit] The aircraft involved was a Douglas DC-8-62H (serial number 46152 and factory 550), manufactured in 1971, and delivered to Japan Air Lines on 23 August. It was registered as JA8051. The aircraft was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B turbofan engines.[3] ## Accident[edit] Two hours into the flight, air traffic control at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport told flight 715 to start its approach and land on runway 15. The flight crew started their approach, putting the landing gear down and extending the flaps. The aircraft descended below minimum descent altitude of 750 feet (230 m), then at 300 feet (91 m), it crashed into the side of a hill 4 miles from the airport, near an estate called Elmina Estate.[4] The aircraft broke on impact, and a fire erupted, which was extinguished by airport rescue and firefighting.[5] The accident killed 34 people: eight of the 10 crew and 26 of the 69 passengers. Forty-five survivors, among the passengers and crew, were taken to a hospital.[6] The remains from the crash could be found in the soil surrounding the estate until 2011. Most of the land now is being converted to developments.[7] A memorial was built in the Japanese cemetery in Malaysia.[8] The crash was the second-deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Malaysia until the crash of Malaysian Airline System Flight 653, two months later, with 100 fatalities.[1] ## Investigation[edit] The Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation investigated the accident. At the time of the crash, the weather around the airport was poor and the aircraft was on a VOR approach. The investigation determined that the cause of the accident was the captain descending below the minimum descent altitude without having the runway in sight, and continuing the descent, causing the aircraft to crash before reaching the airport. The flight crew loss of sight of the airport due to bad weather, which also contributed to the accident. In addition, the first officer did not challenge the captain for violating the regulations.[7] ## References[edit] 1. ^ a b c d Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62H JA8051 Kuala Lumpur Subang International Airport (KUL)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 17 May 2014. 2. ^ "A body part of the Japan Airlines 715 is seen a day after the crash..." Getty Images. Retrieved 16 January 2022. 3. ^ "JA8051 Japan Airlines Douglas DC-8-62H - cn 46152 / ln 550". Planespotters.net. Retrieved 17 May 2014. 4. ^ Nadeswaran, R. (27 September 2020). "NST175: Japan Airlines crash changed my life". New Straits Times. Retrieved 12 March 2021. 5. ^ Thuraisingam, K. (15 October 2017). "Malaysian Civil Defence officer remembers the JAL plane crash of 1977". The Star. Retrieved 12 March 2021. 6. ^ "45 Survive Fiery Malaysia Jet Crash". Desert Sun. 27 September 1977. Retrieved 12 March 2021 - via California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7. ^ a b "Accidents JAL has caused other than Flight 123 Accident". JAPAN AIRLINES Corporate Information. Retrieved 17 May 2014. 8. ^ "マレーシア日本人墓地を訪ねて" [Visit a Japanese cemetery in Malaysia]. www.eva.hi-ho.ne.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 September 2019. ## External links[edit] Portals: Malaysia Japan Aviation * Entry at Aviation-Safety.net * [1][Usurped!] * Memorial of the crash site (in Japanese) * v * t * e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1977 (1977) * Jan 5 Connellan air disaster * Jan 13 Aeroflot Flight 3843 * Jan 13 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 * Jan 15 Linjeflyg Flight 618 * Feb 15 Aeroflot Flight 5003 * Mar 17 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash * Mar 27 Tenerife airport disaster * Apr 4 Southern Airways Flight 242 * Apr 12 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 * Apr 27 Aviateca Convair 240 crash * May 10 Israeli CH-53 crash * May 14 Dan-Air Boeing 707 crash * May 27 Aeroflot Flight 331 * Jul 10 Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-134 hijacking * Jul 20 Aeroflot Flight 2 * Aug 1 Encino helicopter crash * Sep 27 Japan Air Lines Flight 715 * Sep 27 Yokohama F-4 crash * Sep 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 472 * Oct 13 Lufthansa Flight 181 * Oct 20 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash * Nov 19 TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 * Dec 2 Libyan Arab Airlines Tu-154 crash * Dec 4 Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 * Dec 13 Air Indiana Flight 216 * Dec 17 United Airlines Flight 2860 * Dec 18 SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 1976 ◀ ▶ 1978 * v * t * e JAL Group International| * Japan Airlines Regional| * Hokkaido Air System * J-Air * Japan Air Commuter * Japan Transocean Air * Ryukyu Air Commuter Former| * Japan Airlines Domestic * Japan Asia Airways * JAL Express * JALways History| | JAL accidents and incidents| * Flight 2 (1968) * Flight 351 (1970) * Flight 471 (1972) * Flight 472 (1972) * Flight 446 (1972) * Flight 404 (1973) * Food poisoning incident (1975) * Flight 1045 (1977) * Flight 715 (1977) * Flight 472 (1977) * Flight 350 (1982) * Flight 123 (1985) * Flight 1628 incident (1986) * Flight 46E (1993) * Flights 907 and 958 (2001) | Services| * JAL destinations People| * Kazuo Inamori *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template