View source for All Nippon Airways Flight 58

{{short description|1971 mid-air collision over Japan}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| alt             = 
| caption         = 
| occurrence_type = Accident
| name            = All Nippon Airways Flight 58<br />JASDF 92-7932
| image           = 
| date            = 30 July 1971
| type            = [[Mid-air collision]]
| site            = Near [[Shizukuishi, Iwate]], [[Japan]]
| total_injuries  = 1
| coordinates     = {{Coord|39|41|N|140|59|E|region:JP-03_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| total_fatalities = 162
| total_survivors = 1
| plane1_image    = JA8329 Boeing 727-281 All Nippon Airways, Tokyo International, May 1971.jpg
| plane1_alt      = 
| plane1_caption  = JA8329, the Boeing 727 involved in the accident, pictured here two months before the collision
| plane1_type     = [[Boeing 727|Boeing 727-281]]{{efn|name="allnippon"|The aircraft was a Boeing 727-200 model; Boeing [[List of Boeing customer codes|assigns a unique code]] for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which is applied as an [[infix]] to the model number at the time the aircraft is built, hence "727-281" designates a 727-200 built for All Nippon Airways (ANA), which has 81 as its customer code.}}
| aircraft_name   = 
| plane1_operator = [[All Nippon Airways]]
| plane1_IATA     = NH58
| plane1_ICAO     = ANA58
| plane1_callsign = ALL NIPPON 58
| plane1_tailnum  = JA8329
| plane1_origin   = [[Sapporo-Chitose Airport]]
| plane1_destination = [[Tokyo-Haneda Airport]]
| plane1_occupants = 162
| plane1_passengers = 155
| plane1_crew     = 7
| plane1_fatalities = 162
| plane1_survivors = 0
| plane2_image    = Mitsubishi F-86 Sabre 92-7932 seen at Matsushima Airbase, 25 July 1971.jpg
| plane2_alt      = 
| plane2_caption  = 92-7932, the F-86 Sabre involved in the accident, seen here five days before the collision
| plane2_type     = [[North American F-86 Sabre|Mitsubishi F-86F Sabre]]
| plane2_operator = [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force|JASDF]]
| plane2_callsign = LILAC CHARLIE 2
| plane2_tailnum  = 92-7932
| plane2_occupants = 1
| plane2_passengers = 0
| plane2_crew     = 1
| plane2_injuries = 1
| plane2_fatalities = 0
| plane2_survivors = 1
}}

'''All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 58''' was a Japanese domestic flight from [[Chitose Airport]] to [[Haneda Airport]], operated by [[All Nippon Airways]] (ANA). On 30 July 1971, at 02:04 local time, a [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force]] (JASDF) [[North American F-86 Sabre|F-86F Sabre jet fighter]] collided with the [[Boeing 727]] airliner operating the flight, causing both aircraft to crash.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sekigawa |first=Eiichiro |date=April 1975 |title=Mitsubishi's Mentor... ...Supersonics from Nagoya |magazine=Air International |page=172 |volume=8 |issue=4}}</ref><ref name="Worst Aviation Disaster' 1971, page 1">{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1971 |title=161 Die In Worst Aviation Disaster |work=Coshocton Tribune |location=Ohio |pages=1}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news |date=July 31, 1971 |title=162 Die in Japan in Worst Air Crash on Record |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/31/archives/162-die-in-japan-in-worst-air-crash-on-record-162-are-killed-in.html}}</ref> All 162 people aboard the airliner were killed, while the Sabre pilot, a trainee with the JASDF, freed himself from his airplane after the collision and parachuted to safety. This incident led to the resignation of both the head of Japan's [[Ministry of Defense (Japan)|Defense Agency]] and the JASDF [[chief of staff]].<ref name="Akihiro Sado">{{Cite book|author=Akihiro|first=Sadao|title=自衛隊史：日本防衛政策七十年|date=2017|publisher=Eight Banners Culture, Hiking Culture|isbn=978-986-93844-1-4|pages=125–126|language=zh-hant|translator=Yida|translator-first=Zhao|trans-title=Self-Defense Force History: Japan's Defense Policy for Seventy Years}}</ref>

==Aircraft==
The ANA airliner was a [[Boeing 727|Boeing 727-281]]{{efn|name="allnippon"}} with [[Aircraft registration|registration]] {{Airreg|JA|8329}}; it was three months old at the time of the accident.<ref name="ASN">{{cite web|title=Accident description, ANA Boeing 727-281 JA8329 near Shizukuishi, Japan|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19710730-1|url-status=live|access-date=16 July 2016|website=Aviation Safety Network|publisher=[[Flight Safety Foundation]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050307074349/http://aviation-safety.net:80/database/record.php?id=19710730-1 |archive-date=2005-03-07 }}</ref> The JASDF aircraft, belonging to the 1st Air Wing at [[Matsushima Air Field|Matsushima Airbase]],<ref name="Akihiro Sado"/> was a [[North American F-86 Sabre|Mitsubishi F-86F Sabre]], a Japanese-built version of [[North American Aviation]]'s fighter jet, with tail number 92-7932. At the time of the accident, the F-86F was one of the primary aircraft in the JASDF's inventory.

==Passengers and crew==
Most of the airline passengers came from [[Fuji, Shizuoka|Fuji]] in [[Shizuoka Prefecture]] and were returning from a trip to Hokkaido.<ref name="WorstEverTime" /> Of the passengers, 125 were in a tour group made up of members of a society for relatives of Japanese servicemen killed in World War II.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 1, 1971|title=朝日新聞1971年8月1日|language=ja|trans-title=Asahi Shimbun August 1, 1971|work=[[The Asahi Shimbun]]}}</ref> The captain of Flight 58, Saburo Kawanishi, 41, had more than 8,000 hours of flying experience, including 242 hours on the Boeing 727.<ref name="Final report part 1">{{Cite journal |date=1973 |title=全日本空輸株式会社ボーイング式727-200型,ja 8329および航空自衛隊f-86f-40型,92-7932事故調査報告書(1) |trans-title=All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. Boeing 727-200, JA 8329 and Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-86F-40, 92-7932 accident investigation report (1) |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjsass1969/21/237/21_237_624/_pdf/-char/ja |journal=Journal of the Japan Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics |language=ja |publisher=[[Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission]] |volume=21 |issue=237 |pages=624–640 |doi=10.2322/jjsass1969.21.624 |via=J-STAGE|doi-access=free }}</ref> He transmitted a brief emergency call between the time of the collision and the aircraft's disintegration.<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Paul |title=The Mammoth Book of Air Disasters and Near Misses |publisher=Robinson |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-78033-828-6 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="nytimes" /> The first officer was 27-year-old Tsuji Kazuhiko, who had more than 2,200 hours of flight experience, 624 of them on the Boeing 727.<ref name="Final report part 1" /> The flight engineer was 30-year-old Donald M. Carpenter,<ref name="nytimes" /> an American who had logged nearly 2,500 flight hours with 206 of them on the Boeing 727.<ref name="Final report part 1" />

==Sequence of events==
ANA Flight 58 departed [[Chitose Air Base|Chitose Airport]] near Sapporo, with 155 passengers and a crew of 7 on board for a domestic flight to Tokyo's [[Haneda International Airport]]. After takeoff, the aircraft climbed to its cruising altitude of about {{convert|28000|ft|m}}.<ref name="ASN"/> Meanwhile, JASDF Technical Sergeant Yoshimi Ichikawa, a 22-year-old trainee pilot, and Captain Tamotsu Kuma, his 31-year-old instructor, were practicing [[air combat manoeuvring]] in their two Sabres near [[Morioka]], northern [[Honshu]]. The trainee, unaware of the ANA aircraft, was told by his instructor to break away from Flight 58 as it approached and banked left to avoid it,<ref name="Final report part 2">{{Cite journal |date=1973 |title=全日本空輸株式会社ボーイング式727-200型,ja 8329および航空自衛隊f86 F-40型,92-7932事故調査報告書(2) |trans-title=All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. Boeing 727-200, JA 8329 and Japan Air Self-Defense Force F86 F-40, 92-7932 accident investigation report (2) |url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjsass1969/21/238/21_238_689/_pdf/-char/ja |journal=Journal of the Japan Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics |language=ja |publisher=Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission |volume=21 |issue=238 |pages=689–702 |doi=10.2322/jjsass1969.21.689 |via=J-STAGE|doi-access=free }}</ref> but was already too late and moments later, the leading edge of the Sabre's right wing struck the Boeing's left [[tailplane]] at an altitude of {{convert|26000|ft}}. The damage to the Boeing's tail caused it to go out of control; it entered a steep dive and disintegrated in mid-air, the wreckage impacting near the town of [[Shizukuishi]] in [[Iwate Prefecture]]. 

All 162 passengers and crew were killed. The Sabre, having lost its right wing, entered a spin that prevented the trainee pilot from ejecting, so he unbuckled his safety belts and freed himself from the aircraft. He deployed his parachute and landed safely. The Sabre plunged into a nearby rice paddy.<ref name="Worst Aviation Disaster' 1971, page 1" /><ref name="WorstEverTime">{{cite news|date=9 August 1971|title=Disasters: The Worst Ever|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C903063%2C00.html|url-status=dead|accessdate=27 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201092102/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C903063%2C00.html|archive-date=1 February 2008}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The JASDF pilots were later tried and the trainee was acquitted on a charge of involuntary [[manslaughter]]. However, the instructor was found guilty of [[Criminal negligence|criminally negligent]] manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison, with a three-year suspension. He also lost his job.<ref>{{Cite web|title=最高裁判所第一小法廷判決 昭和53(あ)1333| url=http://www.courts.go.jp/search/jhsp0030?hanreiid=58088&hanreiKbn=02|accessdate=2019-07-06|language=ja|trans-title=Japanese Supreme Court Minor Courtroom adjudication 1978(A)1333}}</ref><ref name="OnThisDay">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fighter-jet-collides-with-passenger-plane |title=This Day in History: Jul 30; Fighter jet collides with passenger plane, 1971 |website=www.history.com |publisher=[[A&E Television Networks]] |access-date=16 July 2016}}</ref> Keikichi Masuhara, Director-General of the Defense Agency (now [[Ministry of Defense (Japan)|Ministry of Defense]]) and General Yasuhiro Ueda, Chief of the Air Staff, resigned afterward, taking responsibility for the incident.<ref name="Akihiro Sado"/>

The loss of Flight 58 was the deadliest aviation disaster in history at the time, surpassing the 1968 [[1968 Kham Duc C-130 shootdown|Kham Duc C-130 shootdown]] and the 1969 crash of [[Viasa Flight 742]] in Venezuela.<ref name="WorstEverTime" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|Aviation|1970s}}
*[[1983 Rhein-Main Starfighter crash]]
*[[Gol Transportes Aéreos Flight 1907]]
*[[Hughes Airwest Flight 706]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* "[http://www.mlit.go.jp/hakusyo/transport/shouwa47/ind100206/frame.html 昭和47年度 運輸白書 - III 航空 第2章 航空事故 - 運輸省]." [1972 White Paper on Transportation --III Aviation Chapter 2 Aviation Accidents --Ministry of Transport] {{in lang|ja}} 

{{All Nippon Airways}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971}}

[[Category:1971 in Japan]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Japan]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 727]]
[[Category:Mid-air collisions involving airliners]]
[[Category:Mid-air collisions involving military aircraft]]
[[Category:Mid-air collisions in Asia]]
[[Category:All Nippon Airways accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error]]
[[Category:July 1971 in Asia]]
[[Category:History of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force]]